Thursday, July 13, 2006

Dept of Revenue: Wright Uninformed, Where Was Harpool Before?

The director of the State department of Revenue says Rep. Mark Wright's license office reform plan is "incomplete and uninformed."

Director Trish Vincent says Governor Blunt has already enacted several measures to improve the way the system is run. "For the first time in history, agents submit business plans, pay for all postage, and lose their processing fee if they accept a bad check," Vincent says. "We are also competitively bidding a contract office for the first time in history."

Vincent takes Rep. Wright's plan to task, saying his ideas would hamper efficiency and customer service. "We want the agent who can best provide it," Vincent says. "In some cases that may be a non-profit, in others, business people with proven customer experience." Vincent says mandating non-profits to run the offices isn't practical. Choice is best, so says the director.

She also says the proposal calls for the state to take on massive obligation from counties with no plan to pay for it.

One part of Wright's plan would eliminate a fee if a customer waits for more than 30 minutes in line at an office. Democratic state senate candidate Doug Harpool, who supports much of Wright's plan, calls that a gimmick. The Department of Revenue says "eliminating taxes and fees that go to build roads and provide other services is not the answer."

An official with the Department of Revenue also takes aim at Harpool. Harpool had told KY3 that if he'd been a Senator, he would have stood up and demanded that the Governor award this contract to the local school system.

"Mr. Harpool was a state representative from 1984 to 1994, a time when the Governorship of Missouri was switched from Republican to Democratic hands. To Harpool's statement . . . Is that what you said in 1993 when Governor Carnahan was turning the contract offices over to his Democratic friends," asked the official. "At that time, how did you advocate awarding these contracts to school districts?"

2 comments:

Takes two wings to fly straight said...

Revenue has its facts wrong. The Springfield office was not run by a fee agent by was run by the state under Carnahan (and for that matter under Bond, Ashcroft, Wilson and Holden too). Blunt is the only Governor I can think of who ever awarded the Springield office to a fee agent let along a political contributor. Carnahan awarded the fee agent office in Rolla (his home town) to the local school district which is exactly what Harpool is advocating for Springfield.

Takes two wings to fly straight said...

WRONG!!!!!!! Harpool served in the Missouri House from 1983 to 1992. He was not in office when Carnahan took office. He served only during the administrations of Governor Bond and Ashcroft.