A couple of months ago a good friend and I discussed Missouri’s accidental governor. “He’s really a good guy,” she said. “He cares about people.”
On Christmas Day my mom, in passing, noted that Governor Mike Parson “seems like a nice man.”
I used to be a such a sweet, sweet thing
Til they got a hold of me…
No more mister nice guy…
Missouri prison guards sued the state for back wages, claiming – correctly – that they’d been forced to do unpaid work-related activities before and after their shift. Last year the courts agreed, awarding the guards $114 million in back pay.
This year Governor Mike Parson and his administrative team failed to negotiate an updated labor agreement with the guards’ union, then, in December, stopped collecting dues from the guards’ paychecks. Plus, they haven’t paid what the court ordered.
Meanwhile, Missouri has the greatest decline in the number of children getting care through Medicaid. Remember, this drastic failure occurred after the accidental governor appointed a former Speaker of the House – a lawyer with no experience in running major operations of any kind – as the head of Medicaid at $250,000 a year.
No more mister clean…
New fangled gambling machines popped-up all over the state. Per the head of the lottery, the illegal slot machines are costing the state millions of dollars each year. One problem: the company placing the machines is a major donor — $20,000 so far – to Mike Parson. That seems to be slowing law enforcement and prosecutors from eliminating the gambling devices.
More recently, taking a page from Eric Greitens’ playbook, Parson has taken to flying on private jets provided by, well, connected individuals. (Don’t forget that Republicans chided Claire McCaskill for using her husband’s private plane while two successive Republican governors fly Air Freebie.)
And, the accidental governor has an aversion to sharing public information. For example, the state outsourced public record requests in western Missouri to a private law firm. When asked about the details of that arrangement, the law firm wanted $4,200 before they would reply.
For many years early each month the Office of Administration sent out a press release with the General Revenue numbers for the preceding month…not anymore. While a few select – mostly right leaning – reporters get the data, the press releases are no longer posted on a state website. Those reports are critical because Missouri’s finances can quickly fall off a cliff. The state depends on Individual Income Tax for around 70% and Sales Tax for about 20% of General Revenue needed to pay for schools, Medicaid and most state services. In a recession those two income sources dry up faster than a desert creek in July.
Yes, state government is more than the governor. Yet, the governor appoints the leadership, determines administrative priorities and in countless ways influences what happens. ‘Mister nice guy’ Parson may smile a lot but children keep losing access to medical care, prison guards get denied representation and owed wages, and, illegal gambling machines conquer the state while the accidental governor flies above it all in somebody’s private jet.
So, as Alice Cooper sang,
I got no friends because they read the papers
They can’t be seen with me and I’m getting’ real shot down
And I’m feeling mean.
Glenn Koenen