LEGISLATURE TAKES COMMISSION TO TASK, CUTS FUNDING

Few people outside the retail vehicle business in Missouri probably ever heard of the Missouri Motor Vehicle Commission, and if Gov. Mel Carnahan goes along with the Missouri General Assembly, they won't be hearing of it in the future.

The Legislature recently put an end to the commission in the wake of complaints from two public auto auctions, one in Cape Girardeau, about problems brought on by the commission. Last March an investigator, who no longer is with the commission, told auto dealers at a meeting here that a letter was going to be sent to them warning of the consequences of selling uninspected vehicles at public auto auctions. The investigator also said the dealers could be sued by consumers and lose their state license.

The investigator said those things when he and the former commission director were the target of a lawsuit by a Cape Girardeau auto auction operator. The auction operator contended the commission interfered with his business with a similar letter last year, that he had never been charged with violating any law, and that the commission's actions were harassing.

Cole County Circuit Judge Byron Kinder of Jefferson City subsequently issued a restraining order against the commission, saying it should send letters to the dealers advising them that no action will be taken against them if they buy or sell uninspected vehicles through public auctions.

The Legislature detected something was amiss and approved a measure that makes the commission a part of the Department of Revenue instead of the separate 10-member body it has been since 1988, when it was set up to oversee licensing and regulation of approximately 5,000 vehicle dealers in the state. The measure stops its funding and puts it under the Department of Revenue.

The legislative action effectively constrains the Motor Vehicle Commission and its shenanigans. And it comes in an era of ever-growing bureaucratic regulation and agencies set up for the sole purpose of enforcing those regulations.

Seldom does government act so swiftly to bring one of its agencies into toll, and the Legislature deserves praise for doing so. The governor too should respects its wishes and scratch it from future state funding.