This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Dec. 14, 2012 - While he’s preparing his agenda for the coming legislative session, new Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones admits that he’s considering another post in state government – lieutenant governor – should it open up.
“We’re definitely considering it,’’ Jones said during an interview Thursday, as he formally opened his new district office in his hometown of Eureka. The event also ended his four-day tour around the state to meet with the public, including supporters and businesspeople, to discuss proposed legislation.
Jones’ interest is the result of Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder’s decision to consider a bid for the soon-to-be-vacant 8th District congressional seat. Veteran incumbent U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, is resigning her post to become the top executive of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
The announcement by Kinder, a Republican, has prompted political debate over whether his possible shift to Congress would allow Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, to appoint his replacement.
Republicans and a few lawyers in both parties have questioned whether the state constitution allows the governor to appoint a replacement lieutenant governor. Democrats say there’s no question of Nixon’s power and cite previous governors who have filed lieutenant governor vacancies -- most recently in 2000.
Jones, a lawyer, took note of the recent legal opinion to the contrary by Democratic activist Jane Dueker that has been making the rounds of the internet, especially on Twitter.
To circumvent any legal fight, Jones predicted that the state House and Senate – both controlled by large GOP majorities – may finally pass an often proposed bill to require special elections for all vacant statewide offices, thus ending the governor’s role.
“That’s the type of bill, if the governor vetoes, we would have enough votes to override that veto,’’ Jones said.
Such a change also might make it easier for Jones to decide whether to make a serious pitch for lieutenant governor.
Seeks to curb labor clout
In the meantime, Jones is mulling over various other pieces of legislation should he remain speaker for the next two years.
As a result of what he heard during his four-day tour, Jones said that – besides the standard GOP focus on lower taxes and less regulation -- his list of preferred early legislation will likely include what he called “labor reform’’ measures.
Such labor-related proposals, he said, would include a bill to bar payroll deduction of union dues – dubbed “paycheck protection’’ by backers – and a proposal to curb the state’s prevailing-wage requirement for public projects.
Union leaders oppose both measures and see the payroll-deduction ban as a GOP political attempt to cut off money to labor unions, which often back Democrats.
Both sides agree that eliminating the state’s prevailing-wage law would reduce wages for workers on the affected projects. Republican critics of the prevailing wage say that repealing it would save taxpayers' money; prevailing wage supporters say its elimination would result in substandard work.
Jones predicted that the General Assembly could override Nixon's likely vetoes. He characterized the measures as ways to implement key provisions of the controversial right-to-work law, which bars a requirement that workers pay union dues if a majority vote to join a union, without attempting to pass a right-to-work law.
Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, has said that he doesn't believe that he would have enough Senate votes to pass a right-to-work law. The issue most recently has touched off an uproar in Michigan.
Jones' new district office
Eureka Mayor Kevin Coffey was among the friends, relatives and supporters on hand for Jones' self-described "ribbon-cutting'' of his new office in downtown Eureka.
The office is in an old building, constructed in 1894, that he said had served as the first high school in Eureka. It's now subdivided into offices and shops. Jones' space used to be photography studio for state Rep. Dwight Scharnhorst, R-Pacific.
Jones said that he thought it was important, as speaker, to have an office outside of Jefferson City, "No taxpayer dollars'' were used for the renovation of the office or for its rent and operation, he said. "So, it's not an official state office. It's an official Tim Jones office."
