Careless decision

Once again, Missouri legislators prove how easy it is to spend someone else’s money.

The Missouri Senate has given us another example of the carelessness that lawmakers can display and how they tend to dodge ways to rectify errors while costing taxpayers needless dollars. Is this boondoggle too far out of the box to be put back?

From Jefferson City comes the notice that Missourians may end up paying thousands of dollars to accommodate some thoughtless state senators who are not pleased with the way seats in the new Senate have been arranged.

A resolution passed in the last moments of the most recent legislative session directs the state to change the Senate seats back to their traditional configuration. That could cost as much as $148,400 at a time when Missouri, like many other states, is fighting serious budget difficulties.

“I don’t think a lot of people who signed it (the measure on the seating) realized what the cost was,” said Michael Keathley, Senate administrator. The changes were made during renovations completed in December. The resolution says the seating changes were made without Senate consent which “compromises proper order, safety and decorum in the chamber.” Whose order, whose decorum and what safety? Any ego involved here?

What will be done to prevent such waste? Will anyone have the guts to stand firm on the issue?

The committee in charge could decide to spend the $148,400 for extensive changes or just $6,600 to move just a few desks. Why the moves in the first place, and just how much is “safety” a factor in this pending exercise in stupidity?

There is also, fortunately, the option of doing nothing and spending not a cent.

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder says the lawmakers did not have time to review the costs of the resolution before approving. Obviously they were a hurry to adjourn and go home. What other boondoggles occurred during their hasty exit?

Taxpayers can only hope that Kinder’s remarks are heeded: “Naturally, at a time of state revenue shortfalls not seen since the early 1980s, forging ahead with such an endeavor would not be prudent.”

But too often foolish legislators don’t do what should come “naturally,” like making the best use of public funds  especially in times of financial crises.