Good ideas, or just another sound bite?

Off the Editor’s Spike by Darryl Wilkinson

I am repulsed by the political games we hear from Jefferson City, especially involving our responsibilities to public education.

I don’t pretend to know or even attempt to follow all the details; most “normal” people I know don’t. And that’s the point. Public education to a state government is the same as national defense is to the federal government — top priority. So, we expect things to work out and work right — whether the governor is happy or not. But, as long as the state requires local school superintendents to propose the upcoming school budget without knowing, and long before acquiring, the actual amounts of state funding they can bank on …well, who’s really serious about improving our local public schools?

It’s about money, as always. But last month our own Sen. David Klindt joined with several other lawmakers to propose something that sounds like a good idea. The goal is to refocus state government on needs. Among the suggestions are these two good proposals:

— A Sunset Commission to review state agencies and programs and recommend ways to streamline government and eliminate overlap and duplication of services. The plan is modeled after the Texas Sunset Commission that, since 1982, has eliminated more than 43 agencies and consolidated another 10 for a savings of more than $630 million. (This came to my mind this week upon hearing plans to make Missouri’s National Homeland Security a permanent state agency …is this really necessary?)

— An Employee Incentive Program that links salary adjustments to superior job performance and outstanding service rather than job longevity. This idea, led by Sen. Kindt’s proposed SB 693, also calls for more input from state employees to help identify areas of savings for programs and departments. (I’ve sometimes wondered if we shouldn’t somehow bind the legislature’s retirement package to match the public’s medium income level, district by district throughout the state …to see some real economic development effort).

It’s too bad the overall package is entitled “Government For the People.” That smacks of political packaging and, frankly, draws another yawn. We’ve had a million of ‘em, those sound-bite ideas that fade away in the smog of budget debate and legislative temper tantrums. So, the good ideas here might not get noticed by those of us out here who try to keep interested. That reality shouldn’t discourage the legislative effort, however.

Here’s what Sen. Michael Gibbons (R-Kirkwood) says about the idea of redirecting state government to focus on long-term, comprehensive changes: “People have reached the point where they feel like government is no longer working for them. They sense that government is putting its own departments and agencies and agendas before (that of) the citizens’.”

Well, Senator, you’ve got that right.