Dec 15 – Weekly Capitol Update
JUDGES RESCIND AND REPLACE NEW SENATE DISTRICTS
The Missouri Appellate Apportionment Commission on Dec. 9 unexpectedly rescinded the new state Senate redistricting plan it had submitted just the week before and replaced it with a revised version that corrects the original’s numerous violations of the general constitutional prohibition against splitting counties among Senate districts. The new plan changes 12 of the 34 Senate districts from the plan the commission submitted on Nov. 30. The commission, which consists of six judges of the Missouri Court of Appeals, made no changes to its redistricting plan for the state’s 163 districts in the House of Representatives that it also submitted on Nov. 30.
Upon filing the original Senate plan, the judges on the appellate commission were subject to immediate and fierce criticism for ignoring the provision of the Missouri Constitution that prohibits splitting counties except when necessary to complete a single district in a county that has sufficient population for more than one Senate seat. In response to the criticism, the judges initially attempted to justify their actions by claiming the constitutional provision that says “the commission” generally can’t split counties applied only to the original Senate Apportionment Commission that had first crack at the redistricting process and not the appellate commission, which took over the task in September after the first commission failed to reach an agreement.
This highly questionable interpretation, however, created another problem for the judges since the sentence in the constitution that immediately precedes the one on the county-splitting rule authorizes “the commission” to hold closed meetings. The judges, who chose to conduct their redistricting work in secret, had invoked that line to claim they were exempt from following the state’s Sunshine Law, which requires most public business to be conducted in public view. As a result, if the county-splitting rule didn’t apply to the appellate commission then neither did the provision authorizing closed sessions, which would have rendered both the House and Senate redistricting plans drafted by the appellate commission illegal and invalid under the Sunshine Law.
CURATORS HIRE ANOTHER BUSINESSMAN TO LEAD UM SYSTEM
The University of Missouri Board of Curators on Dec. 13 hired Timothy Wolfe, a former executive with the software company Novell Inc., as president of the four-campus UM System. Wolfe, 53, grew up in Columbia is a graduate of the MU School of Business.
Like his predecessor, former Sprint Corp. CEO Gary Forsee, Wolfe will come into the job with no experience working in academia. Wolfe, who will receive an annual base salary of $450,000 with the possibility of another $100,000 in performance bonuses, will begin work on Feb. 15.
The Board of Curators selected Wolfe after a year-long candidate search that it conducted in secret. Forsee resigned as UM System president in January after his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
NIXON APPOINTS FORMER STATE LAWMAKER TO PSC
Gov. Jay Nixon appointed Jefferson County Administrator Steve Stoll, a former state lawmaker, to the Missouri Public Service Commission on Dec. 14. Stoll, a Democrat, will replace former PSC Commissioner Robert Clayton, who was appointed to the Missouri Court of Appeals earlier this year.
Stoll, 64, served in state House of Representatives from 1993 to 1999 and the Senate from 1999 to 2005. He resigned his Senate seat to become Festus city administrator, a post his held until 2009 when he took a similar position with Jefferson County.
The five-member Public Service Commission serves as the state’s regulatory authority for investor-owned utility companies. Stoll’s appointment will be subject to Senate confirmation.
FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER RABBITT DIES AT AGE 76
Former Missouri House Speaker Richard Rabbitt, 76, died on Dec. 9 of heart failure at a St. Louis hospital. Rabbitt, a St. Louis Democrat, served in the House from 1961 to 1977, including six years as majority leader and the last four years as speaker.
In 1976, Rabbitt fell just 10,000 votes short of unseating incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Phelps out of nearly 1.9 million votes cast. A few months later, Rabbitt was indicted on federal corruption charges. He was later convicted on two felony counts relating to taking kickbacks in exchange for legislation and served 16 months of four year sentence, according to his obituary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
After his release, Rabbitt worked for the St. Louis Housing Authority and later Unigroup Inc., the parent company of United Van Lines, according to the Post-Dispatch. He also did pro bono legal work for the poor after regaining his license to practice law.
Category: Weekly Capitol Update
