The most powerful man in the state of Missouri, Speaker of the House Ron Richard, R-Joplin, was powerless to stop House Majority Leader (and Ethics Committee Chairman) Steve TIlley from killing legislation that would have benefited Richard's hometown.
That is the only way to interpret the situation following a careful reading of the article veteran political reporter Terry Ganey posted this morning on the Columbia Daily Tribune website.
In the article, it is noted that Tilley killed legislation that would have prevented major contributor Tom Burcham from being able to make a killing by suing city governments that have sales taxes that are not specifically for capital improvements or general purposes. Burcham, who had success with such lawsuits, is now bringing action against the city of Joplin where voters approved a sales tax for law enforcement purposes.
As majority leader, Tilley decides which bills come up in the House. Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin, supported the Municipal League’s bill, but Richard said Tilley would not bring it up.
“The majority leader wouldn’t let me put it on the calendar,” Richard said. “He said he wasn’t ready to talk about it just yet. I told the Municipal League, ‘We need some help to convince the majority leader there are a lot of cities that are in jeopardy.’ ”
While Tilley decides what bills come before the House, Richard, who described himself as more powerful than the governor or the president of the Senate (but not Tilley, apparently) during a May interview with KODE could easily have used his bully pulpit to put pressure on Tilley to back down.
It must be a lonely job being the most powerful man in the state and being impotent.
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