Nixon Close To Fee Office Reform

Governor Jay Nixon is lauding the passage of legislation that will require Missouri's license fee offices to be put up for competitive bid.

UPDATED @ 9:40 PM: BUT GOP CALLS FOUL ON REFORM

Says Major Nixon contributors have now become the new contractors for HALF of all the license offices

Nixon's fee office reform was one of the first policies he announced as Governor. In January, the South Fremont office in Springfield was one of the first he put up for bid. The passage of House Bill 683 is expected to make those changes permanent.

To date, the Governor's office says 102 of 183 of the state's license offices have been put out for competitive bid. 11 offices have been awarded; the bidding process has closed on another 61 offices.

"Four months after I ended the system of political patronage for fee offices, the General Assembly has ensured that its vestiges will be gone under future Governors as well," Gov. Nixon said. "Missourians deserve to know that the management of their local fee office has been chosen based on merit and how well they serve their customers, not on political affiliation. This is a great day in making our reforms permanent."

MOGOP RESPONDS:

"In the wake of criticism surrounding Governor Jay Nixon's appointment of his moneyed supporters to plum government positions and his attempt to bribe state lawmakers, he is now falsely boasting that he somehow 'ended' Missouri's patronage system when, in fact, he has rewarded multiple license offices to his political cronies," said GOP spokesman Jonathan Prouty. "Nearly half of the license offices awarded by Nixon to date have been doled out to his campaign donors—donors linked to more than $40,000 in contributions to his 2008 gubernatorial campaign. This figure could increase exponentially as a number of wealthy, well-connected Nixon donors have placed bids for license offices that have yet to be awarded," said Prouty.

PLUS: Tony Messenger TWITTERS that two conflicting fee office bills have now passed.