Governor Eric Greitens
Richard Fulton
The state legislature has finally finished its business for the year after plowing through two special sessions following the ending of the constitutionally set end of its yearly regular session.
Governor Eric Greitens called the special sessions to pass two of his priorities. This undo rush, a new session starts in January, has cost the taxpayers of the state $158,00 dollars, money many school districts could use.
The first special session passed legislation authorizing major reductions in electricity rates for certain metal producers. The second tweeked the state laws aimed at restricting abortions; a law that might well be struck down as unconstitutional.
The governor has his agenda and will stop at nothing to pursue it. Recent editions of The Forum have had other news items that illustrate the activities of our governor. Much of what was reported does not reflect well on him.
Governors have many appointments to make to fill out vacant posts in government and on boards and commissions that help run different functions. Among those are appointments in education oversight boards.
Greitens made a couple appointments to the U. of Missouri Board of Curators. One was to Jon Sundvold, a former Mizzou basketball star and now in finance. Governor Nixon had appointed him temporarily, this finalized the deal.
The other appointment to the Board was Julia Brncic, Express Scripts VP and Associate General Council. Will it surprise you to learn that Express Scripts gave $10,000 to help fund Greitens’ inauguration?
Then Greitens gave the company a no-bid contract worth $250,000 to monitor prescription drugs that doctors and pharmacists dole out. Nice return on investment.
There were appointments to the State Board of Education. He named a business woman, an insurance agent, and Delbert Scott, President of Kansas Christian College.
The latter is a champion of charter schools. But why appoint a president of a Kansas school to a Missouri education post? Especially since it is against the law to appoint anyone who is a school or university employee. There’s a story here somewhere. He had to turn down the appointment, of course.
A St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial was reprinted in The Forum last week. It lamented a “frivolous” lawsuit filed by a Greitens ally, a group called Missouri Alliance for Freedom, against Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway and state Senator Rob Schaaf.
Greitens has clashed publicly with these two recently and this seems a way to get back at them. The group’s president is former head of the Missouri Republicans and Jeff Roe associates are closely involved. Jeff Roe who the Post calls “a ruthless Republican political operative.” Greitens doesn’t play nice.
Six Missouri Senators, three Republicans and three Democrats have called for an investigation into illegal and unethical conduct by Greitens’ campaign for election. He has already admitted campaign violations of the Missouri Ethics Laws.
The complaint centers on another “dark money” group called A New Missouri that raises unlimited monies (so called “dark monies”) from sources that do not have to be identified. Though one donation of $50,000 by a group wanting to open a new casino in Missouri was reported.
Greitens seems to want to use this group for pushing his personal agenda. The Six claim “illegal and ongoing coordination between this group and the governor.”
This is a governor worth watching. He has ruthless allies, unlimited ambition, and access to a great deal of “dark money.”
Richard Fulton is an emeritus professor of political science.
