Missouri?s Plane Gate Scandal Grounded for Now

Despite a Republican veto-proof supermajority in the Missouri General Assembly, the state GOP won't admonish Gov. Jay Nixon for approving the purchase of a $5.6 million plane used for executive travel. State Rep. Mark Parkinson, R-St. Charles, wanted an amendment to open records legislation that would have prevented Nixon from using the new plane, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch . After the amendment lost support, Parkinson withdrew his request.

* The move was the latest in a contentious standoff between Nixon and his penchant for lots of intrastate travel and the General Assembly's moves to try to curtail state spending. Some media outlets such as Missouri News Horizon have referred to spending for the new plane as "Plane Gate."

* Parkinson told the Post-Dispatch, "A lot of the members of [the house] don't have the stomach to hold the executive [branch] ... accountable."

* Fellow Republican state Rep. Kevin Engler of Farmington told the newspaper he thought it was "stupid that we bought the plane. ... The fact that we have it but would not use it would be further abuse."

* House Bill 256 , to which Parkinson's amendment was attached, extended the state's Sunshine Law pertaining to public records until 2016. The Post-Dispatch states one approved amendment included making the governor's flight logs a public document without Sunshine Law requests.

* The legislation passed a committee vote. The full house votes on the measure sometime later this week. The senate still needs to approve the bill before heading to Nixon's desk.

* State Rep. Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart, accused Republicans of trying to "pull the governor's pants down" with the plane log amendment. The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Caleb Jones, R-California, said he wanted to ensure Missourians know where their taxpayer dollars are going, according to the Post-Dispatch.

* In late January, Republicans delayed the governor's nomination of Doug Nelson to a key administrative post. Nelson, a Nixon adviser, made the final decision to approve purchase of the plane in December. The move was done without the knowledge or authority of the General Assembly, which angered lawmakers. Missouri News Horizon reveals the plane was the latest tug-of-war between the executive branch's spending and the legislative branch's authority to limit state spending.

* In 2012, Missouri Auditor Thomas Schweich published a report that Nixon spent more than $2.3 million in travel from 2009 to 2011. Of that, $1.7 million was billed to other state agencies instead of coming from the governor's allocated travel budget. In other words, the governor's travel expenses exceeded the allowance from the General Assembly's approved budget.

* The same audit revealed Nixon would have saved the state money had he traveled commercially. Missouri News Horizon has a graphic that shows 121 public school teachers could be hired for one year in Missouri for the same cost as the new $5.6 million plane. With the loss of Parkinson's amendment, "Plane Gate" is grounded for now.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/missouri-plane-gate-scandal-grounded-now-152700081.html

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