JEFFERSON CITY -- In a recent press release, the Missouri Department of Economic Development boasted that Missouri's Purchasing Managers' Index shows economic expansion indicating that our state is rebounding from its deep recession. I wish I shared the administration's optimistic view. From my personal observations, I believe our state remains in an economic quagmire and Gov. Bob Holden's recent vetoes have made a bad situation even worse.

Among the bills that Gov. Holden killed with his veto pen was Senate Bill 69, legislation that I sponsored and feel strongly about. The sole purpose of this bill was to create a Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board that would provide small business owners with more influence on the creation of new regulations. What could be wrong with that?

Small businesses are the backbone of Missouri's economy and their continued growth is essential to jump-starting our state's sagging economy.

While putting together this bill, I talked to countless small business owners who related that they simply feel overwhelmed by the impact of state regulations on their business operations. The Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board would have an impact on small businesses by offering them structural input to regulatory writing.

The board would conduct hearings and solicit input from small businesses regarding enforcement by regulatory state agencies.

I wanted this board to be totally nonpartisan. Business is business, and I worked in banking long enough to know that politics should never get in the way of that. Under SB 69, the board would be made up of two members appointed by the governor, one member appointed by the lieutenant governor, one member who is chair of the Minority Business Advocacy Commission, two members appointed by the House of Representatives, two members appointed by the Senate, one member appointed by the speaker of the House and one member appointed by the president pro tem of the Senate.

Senate Bill 69 is a good bill and if passed by large majorities in both the House and the Senate. Republicans and Democrats alike backed this bill. Similar legislation is succeeding at the federal level.

In the final days of the legislative session, when Gov. Holden made it known that he objected to SB 69, I worked closely with his representatives to change items that they objected to. We made every change that we could and he still vetoed the bill.

I believe the governor's veto had nothing to do with the bill itself, and everything to do with politics.

In his veto letter he wrote: "Contemporaneously with this veto, I am working with small business leaders on an executive order which provides small business the input into the administrative rulemaking process that they deserve without running afoul of basic constitutional tenets or imposing unreasonable and exorbitant costs and burdens upon the state's agencies and taxpayers."

In other words, the governor plans to veto SB 69 and remake it into an executive order so that he can take all of the credit. It won't be the bill we proposed. I call that politics at its worst.

I don't know what will happen during the General Assembly's Veto Session, but it is my hope that we will succeed in overriding the governor's veto.

NOTE: This is the first of what I plan to make a regular Capitol Report. Please forward this to your friends and business associates who may be interested in receiving this report directly. All you need to do to receive this Capitol Report is send an e-mail to cjackson@senate.mo.gov.