Now that the dust is settling on the regular legislative session, the Democratic candidates for Attorney General, all of whom serve in the lege, are whipping out press releases. As you can imagine, they all more or less say that they are teh awsum, and their opponents are teh suck. And they’re all probably true, to some degree.

What’s most interesting is the clash on the Voter ID bill. State Sen. Chris Koster helped kill the Voter ID bill by participating in a filibuster against the “Village Law” repeal, a measure that would strip developers of the right to populate a tract of land with their own employees or relatives, then have the land declared a “village” in order to release the property from a town’s zoning regulations. The “right” was only granted by an unknown senator slipping it in a larger bill undetected last session, and many Republicans and Democrats were rightly upset about it. So Koster filibustered a good measure to correct a bad bill, and both Donnelly and Harris nail him for it.

But Koster has his own side to the story. He quotes our own Blue Girl and Michael Bersin, among others, crediting him for stopping the Voter ID bill by chewing up so much of the waning hours of the session with his filibuster. And he does deserve credit, because it’s not clear that the Voter ID bill would have been stopped in the legislature without Koster’s key role in gumming up the works.

Still, I’d like to know exactly where Koster stands on forcing all Missouri voters to present government-issued photo IDs before they can vote, especially since he voted for such a restriction in 2006.

All three press releases are below the fold.

Jeff Harris:

Jeff Harris Emerges from Session as Only Consumer Champion in A.G. Race

Harris Fights for the Little Guy, His Opponents Cave

to Corporate Interests

Columbia – Representative Jeff Harris emerged from the just completed legislative session as the clear choice for Attorney General for Missourians concerned about consumer rights. During the last session, Harris sponsored a number of bills that demonstrate his commitment to protecting the interest of regular Missourians.

From protecting our children from sexual predators by restricting their ability to live within close proximity of parks to protecting people’s email inboxes from spam, Harris spelled out his determination to serve as a watchdog for all Missourians. Harris again sponsored a measure to give local communities and citizens a voice over where a factory farm can set up shop and another measure to toughen the penalties for shaking a young child.

While Jeff Harris stood firm against a HB 1779 which will cut regulation of local phone service and allow companies like AT&T to jack up consumer’s phone bills, his opponents caved. Senator Chris Koster voted with the big phone companies and Representative Margaret Donnelly ducked the final vote. 1 Last year, Donnelly voted for a bill that benefited big cable companies, which critics also said would help out AT&T. Both Koster and Donnelly have taken thousands from the telecom industry. 2

In the final days of the session, Senator Koster also took a bizarre stand for a Democrat, by filibustering a bill that would have repealed the so-called “Village Law.”  That law allows developers to skirt local and county regulations. Not only did Koster side with wealthy developers, he was also personally championing a fight on behalf of his friend, the Republican Speaker of the House Rod Jetton. The Springfield News Leader reported that Koster met with Jetton to discuss strategy for filibustering this bill to benefit Jetton’s rich developer friends. 3

“Throughout this campaign, Senator Koster has continued to show his confusion about just what it means to be a Democrat,” said Jeff Harris.  “I know that standing up for regular folks and against rich corporations is a new concept for him, but taking up a fight on behalf of the Republican Speaker and his cronies is a flat out insult to Democrats, to working families and to communities across this state.”

“I’m extremely proud of my record in fighting for consumers during this session and throughout my career,” Harris added. “The Attorney General is the people’s advocate, and Missourians should have no doubt that I will be a consistent and constant advocate for them.   When people look at their rising phone bills, I hope that they’ll remember who fought for them and who sided with wealthy special interests.”

Jeff Harris served as an Assistant Attorney General under Jay Nixon. He has worked in the legislature and in the Attorney General’s Office to represent the interests of Missouri families. Harris, who also served as Democratic Leader in the House of Representatives, represents Columbia in the Missouri House.

To learn more about Jeff Harris’ campaign for Attorney General, visit http://www.ElectJeffHarris.com.

1 Journal of the House

http://www.house.mo.gov/billtr…

2 Missouri Ethics Commission

http://www.moethics.mo.gov/

3 Springfield News-Leader

http://www.news-leader.com/app…

Margaret Donnelly:

Koster’s Priorities are Sex Shops and Special Interests over Missourians

Successful filibuster helps Speaker Jetton, Sex Shops, and not much else

JEFFERSON CITY – As the legislative session comes to a close, it is usually the final opportunity for lawmakers to pass bills helpful to their constituents.  However, one tag team of lawmakers, Senators Chris Koster, D-Raymore and Senator Victor Callahan

D-Independence used the final hours of the legislative session to filibuster the “Village Law Repeal” bill in the State Senate.  The legislation had two major provisions: the first repealed the “Village Law”; the second placed tougher restrictions on sex shops and pornography. After a long filibuster a compromise was reached.  The bill passed, but without the emergency clause allowing it to become law immediately.

Numerous newspaper editorials have condemned the “Village Law” because of the proliferation of so called “villages” popping up in many areas of the state as a way for developers to avoid accountability to county government.  The provision was inserted at the last minute last year and permits development to occur regardless of the impact on neighboring communities.  This has been a pet project of Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton, a close friend of Koster’s.

State Representative Margaret Donnelly commented on the filibuster saying, “It is outrageous that in the final days of session Senator Koster has made it a priority to filibuster a bill in order to help his friend Speaker Jetton. The repeal of the village law provision is essential to protecting the wishes of neighboring citizens from projects such as gaming or CAFOs.  He must also be against putting regulations on sex shops, since his filibuster resulted in that portion being stripped from the bill. Although the repeal of the village law finally occurred, without the emergency clause it will be the “Wild West” for developers from now until August.

“I expect more from a candidate for Attorney General.  He should be ashamed,” said Donnelly. “This shows once again that Koster values his special interests and Republican friends over the best interests of all Missourians.”

Chris Koster:

Koster and Callahan Defeat Republican Attempt to Rig Elections

Last week, Senators Chris Koster and Victor Callahan stood up to extreme partisans in order to keep them from disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of Missouri voters. Along with Chuck Graham and Jeff Smith, Koster and Callahan blocked Republican efforts to bring Voter I.D. legislation to the floor of the Missouri Senate in the closing hours of the legislative session.

Praise for Senat
ors Koster and Callahan have been widely reported in the traditional and alternative media.  What follows is a representative sample:

“Finally, I can’t close this post without thanking Senators Koster and Callahan.  They used parliamentary procedure and ran out the clock on the session, and in so doing, they strangled Rosemary’s Baby-the proof-of-citizenship-to-vote amendment to the state Constitution-in its crib.

Chris gets full marks from me for his clever application of the rules on Thursday and Friday.” –Blue Girl, Red State Democratic Blog, 5/18/2008

“For those of us stationed outside Jefferson City, last week’s filibuster over the proposed repeal of the “village law” (which filed numerous fix posts) was fascinating drama. Or was it farce?

“While at Mizzou on Saturday for a family college graduation, this reporter heard tantalizing talk among the politicos and others milling around the town, who hinted at something larger than what first seemed to be the case. Some of the filibuster participants-especially those close to House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill and with a growing cadre of consulting clients on the side-no doubt sought to block the repeal.

But to hear some of the behind-the-scenes  talk around the hallowed pillars, some of the Democrats who aided the filibuster [Senators Koster, Callahan, Graham & Smith] may have had another objective-to slow down or prevent deliberation on other unwanted measures, notably the Photo ID bill.

The idea being to assist those truly against the village law repeal, and in doing so kill valuable time so that other controversial bills died on the vine, so to speak.” –Jo Mannies, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“I had only a brief opportunity to speak with State Senator (and Attorney General candidate) Chris Koster about the end of the session. His “run out the clock” strategy on the floor of the Senate was singled out for praise by State Auditor Susan Montee in her remarks to those attending the banquet.” –Michael Bersin, Show-Me Progress

“The village law filibuster helped kill (the) photo ID measure.  It was a curious development in what was a strange bunch of hours in the Missouri Senate. Democrats-such as Senators Chris Koster, D-Harrisonville, and Victor Callhan, D-Independence- joined with Republicans close to House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill-such as Senators Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, and Luann Ridgeway, R-Smithville-to kill the repeal.

When asked about why he joined in on the filibuster, Graham seemed to confirm what Post-Dispatch reporter Jo Mannies heard at a graduation ceremony this weekend. Graham said, “Frankly, it was an opportunity to slow down the process and keep us from bringing up other bills like the abortion bill and the photo ID bill.  Any time we have an opportunity to eat the clock like that, it was a good opportunity for the Democratic perspective to slow things down.” –Jason Rosenbaum, Columbia Daily Tribune