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Lawmakers lambast MoDOT lobbying

Submitted by Brent Hugh on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 8:02pm
Waiting for MoDOT by zaskem on FlickR
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are lambasting MoDOT for its political role in actively lobbying for or against certain legislation this year.

MoDOT sent a large number of employees to the Capitol to lobby in favor of a "primary seat belt enforcement" bill and recently has launched a press blitz across the state hoping to influence the governor to veto a bill loosening requirements for wearing motorcycle helmets.

Legislators and even the Governor have spoken out against MoDOT's political role.

Senator Charlie Shields receives award
Senator Charlie Shields at Bicycle Day at the Capitol 2008

Charlie Shields, President Pro Tem of the Missouri Senate, said in a sternly worded statement:

The last time I checked, laws are written by the people’s elected representatives to the state House and Senate, and the governor then has the power to approve or veto the laws they pass that represent the will of the people. I am alarmed that an appointed bureaucrat would use taxpayer money to pay for polling and then hold a press conference while on the clock to oppose a specific piece of legislation. . . .

[T]his is the second instance this year where he has veered off-track by misusing taxpayer dollars in an effort to lobby elected officials.

MoDOT lobbies against Complete Streets
Of course, this year MoDOT stood as the only public group opposing the Missouri Complete Streets bill--which was supported by over 70 organizations and groups ranging from the Missouri PTA to the Association of Landscape Architects to ParaQuad, cities, metropolitan planning organizations, and bicycling, walking, and running clubs.


MoDOT Director Pete Rahn

And, of course, thanks to MoDOT's opposition, the Missouri Complete Streets bill was defeated in both 2008 and 2009.

In the 2009 Senate Transportation Committee hearing, the Complete Streets bill was subject to really vicious--as well as exaggerated and misleading--opposition in testimony by MoDOT's Eric Curtit, who was sent by MoDOT Director Pete Rahn personally to kill the bill. A previous MoBikeFed News article details Curtit's testimony and the many problems with it.

This year MoDOT stood alone as the only organization publicly opposing the Missouri Complete Streets bill.

Is MoDOT using taxpayer funds to undermine the political process?
The question in all of these cases is not whether MoDOT's position is right or wrong--or whether MoDOT can and should inform lawmakers and the public about technical subjects in its area of expertise.

Of course, MoDOT can and should offer information and expertise.

The question is whether it is appropriate for MoDOT to spend the taxpayer's money to engage in the political process--to go beyond simply providing information and use taxpayer funds and taxpayer-funded employees to work to influence votes in the legislature or the governor in his official capacity.

Doing this puts MoDOT in the position of using taxpayer funds to work the political process in opposition to citizen groups and elected officials.

Should MoDOT's participation in the political process be limited?
The Missouri Constitution puts MoDOT outside the political process--MoDOT is not subject to direct control by the legislature or the governor.

Maybe now it is time to take the next logical step, and prohibit MoDOT from spending taxpayer money to influence legislation.

Surely, if the stakes involved in these issues are so high, there must be other citizen groups who would be able to speak up and lead a campaign in support of the position MoDOT champions?

When MoDOT takes the lead, in such a public way, it certain gives the impression that there is no other organized public support for its positions. Into that vacuum, MoDOT steps, spending taxpayer money to do lobbying and public relations in support of a political position.

Does MoDOT's political role undermine its credibility?
By the Missouri Constitution, MoDOT is set up to work as an independent, impartial, objective, expert on transportation matters, where decisions are made on the basis of what is best for the state and not on a politics.

However, when MoDOT itself uses its funding, personnel, image, media connections, and clout to enter the political arena, it undermines MoDOT's credibility as an independent, objective expert organization.

In all the issues MoDOT has lobbied on, there are objective questions: How much will it cost? How many injuries will result? What will be the effect on our transportation system? In those areas, MoDOT can and should provide technical information and data.

But the larger questions are far outside MoDOT's sphere of expertise, and areas where MoDOT should be listening to--and not dictating--policy and public opinion:
  • Should the state be requiring personal safety measures and punishing those who fail to use them?
  • Is the tradeoff in reduced injuries worth the increased government intrusion into our personal lives?
  • In the case of Complete Streets: Should our society's transportation system be solely focussed on automobiles or should it be designed from the ground up to be inclusive of walking, bicycling, and transit?
Is the public in charge--or MoDOT?
Whatever side of those issues you stand on, are they not issues that need to be decided by the people of Missouri through the political process?

Or are they issues that can and should be decided by a MoDOT bureaucrat dictating public policy--with the rest of us simply following this "expert" advice?

What do you think?
What do you think? Is it OK for MoDOT to spend taxpayer money to take part in the political process? Should there be limits on MoDOT's political activity? Let us know by leaving a comment below or taking our survey on this issue.
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