SB 389 [pdf] has an interesting little clause which prompts the title: “The Term Limited Politician Lowering the Bar for Public Higher Education Employment Shameless Self Interest Act.”

173.475. Notwithstanding any provision of law or policy of a public institution of higher education to the contrary, no public college or university, as defined in section 173.355, shall reject an applicant for a faculty position based solely on the applicant having not earned a graduate degree, provided that the applicant has earned an undergraduate baccalaureate degree and has served for at least eight years in the general assembly.

The bill was signed by the Governor and took effect on August 28, 2007. It was sponsored by Senator Nodler. The senator has an undergraduate baccalaureate degree in political science. No other degrees are listed in his biography. “He was sworn into his four-year state senate term on Jan. 8, 2003…”  Well heck, he’s not term limited out until 2010 – there’s still enough time to go get an advanced degree.

Oh, but wait. Before we get too harsh about Senator Nodler, let’s take a look at the Journal of the Senate, page 898, from April 18, 2007:

Senator Green offered SA 3, which was read:

SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 3
Amend Senate Substitute No. 5 for Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 389, Page 30, Section 173.425, Line 17 of said page, by inserting after all of said line the following:
“173.475. Notwithstanding any provision of law or policy of a public institution of higher education to the contrary, no public college or university, as defined in section 173.355, shall reject an applicant for a faculty position in political science based solely on the applicant having not earned a graduate degree, provided that the applicant has earned an undergraduate baccalaureate degree and has served for at least eight years in the general assembly.”; and Further amend the title and enacting clause accordingly.

Senator Green moved that the above amendment be adopted, which motion prevailed.

Wha…? People who eat sausage should not watch it being made. When did the original lose the “political science” phrase?

Okay, it was Senator Nodler’s bill and he didn’t protest the inclusion of this amendment. We can still get harsh with him.

But wait, there’s even more in the Journal of the House [pdf], May 7, 2007 – an amendment was offered to delete our hapless little clause (Well, it appears to be our little clause) [a “No” vote kept the “Term Limited Politician Lowering the Bar for Public Higher Education Employment Shameless Self Interest” clause in the bill]:

Representative McClanahan offered House Amendment No. 3.

House Amendment No. 3

AMEND Senate Substitute No. 6 for Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 389, Page 23, Section 173.475, Lines 1-7, by deleting all of said lines; and Further amend said title, enacting clause and intersectional references accordingly.

Representative McClanahan moved that House Amendment No. 3 be adopted.

Which motion was defeated by the following vote:

AYES: 057

Aull Baker 25 Bringer Burnett Casey Chappelle-Nadal Corcoran Daus Donnelly El-Amin Fallert Flook Frame George Grill Harris 23 Harris 110 Haywood Hodges Holsman Hoskins Hubbard Hughes Komo Kraus Kuessner Lampe LeVota Liese Low 39 McClanahan Meadows Nasheed Norr Oxford Page Quinn 9 Robb Robinson Roorda Rucker Sander Scavuzzo Schieffer Schoemehl Shively Skaggs Storch Swinger Talboy Todd Vogt Whorton Witte Yaeger Zimmerman Zweifel

NOES: 089
Avery Baker 123 Bearden Bivins Brandom Brown 30 Bruns Cooper 120 Cooper 155 Cooper 158 Cox Cunningham 145 Cunningham 86 Darrough Davis Day Deeken Dempsey Denison Dethrow Dixon Dougherty Dusenberg Emery Ervin Faith Fares Fisher Franz Guest Hobbs Hunter Icet Jones 89 Jones 117 Kelly Kingery Lembke Lipke Loehner May McGhee Meiners Moore Munzlinger Muschany Nance Nieves Nolte Onder Parson Pearce Pollock Portwood Pratt Quinn 7 Richard Ruestman Ruzicka Sater Schaaf Schad Scharnhorst Schneider Schoeller Self Silvey Smith 14 Smith 150 St. Onge Stream Thomson Threlkeld Tilley Viebrock Villa Wallace Walsh Walton Wasson Wells Weter Wilson 119 Wilson 130 Wood Wright 159 Yates Young Mr Speaker

PRESENT: 004
Brown 50 Johnson Lowe 44 Spreng

ABSENT WITH LEAVE: 013
Bland Bowman Curls Funderburk Grisamore Kratky Marsh Salva Schlottach Stevenson Sutherland Wildberger Wright-Jones

Now, as far as I can tell, this vote was about our little clause. Sausage making appears to be quite messy. Well, it’s seven lines (bottom of page 23 through the top of page 24) in the actual bill [pdf]. I vote yes.

Gee, with all those people voting to preserve our little clause that makes for a really large applicant pool.

Let’s see, I’ll start with David Pearce (r-plastic smile, 121):

…Rep. Pearce attended Central Missouri State University and received a Bachelor of Science degree in agri-journalism from the University of Missouri in 1984…

Well, he’s got the degree, but he isn’t term limited out yet, and he is running for the Senate in 2008. We’ll count him as a potential future professor.

How about one of the Cooper triplets? Shannon Cooper (r-120):

….Cooper also achieved the rank of Eagle Scout….

….Rep. Cooper graduated from Clinton High School in Clinton, Mo., in 1986….

Nope, no  baccalaureate degree, but it is nice about his scouting experience. We should probably look for an amendment addressing that qualification in the next session of the General Assembly. He is term limited in 2008. For now we’ll chalk his vote up to altruism.

How about Michael McGhee (r-122)?:

…He has also served as a leader and counselor for the Boy Scouts of America for over 20 years….

…Rep. McGhee graduated Van Horn High School in 1966…..

Nope, no baccalaureate degree. There’s the scouting again. Yeah, there’s gotta be an amendment in the next session. But, for now, let’s chalk his vote up to altruism.

Hmmm. Let’s take a look at Speaker Rod Jetton:

….went on to graduate from Southwest Baptist University with a B.A. in Political Science and History….

There’s that “political science” thingee.

This is so much fun, I think I might continue for a while.

Brian Baker (r-123):

….Rep. Baker earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature, with a minor in psychology from Central Missouri State University in 1998. He completed a master’s degree in religious studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2002….

Now that’s a truly altruistic vote. He doesn’t need the employment assistance of this legislation, or does he?

Bob Dixon (r-140)

….Rep. Dixon attended Southwest Missouri State University and graduated Magna Cum Laude with Departmental Distinction from Drury University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration….

Distinction always helps.

It’d be interesting to see if anyone in the General Assembly who voted for our little clause in this bill supports any “interesting” initiatives on the upcoming 2008 ballot.