What's a little plagiarism among friends?

It looks like Rep. Marilyn Ruestman, R-Joplin, is up to her old tricks.

Large sections of a recent capital report under Mrs. Ruestman's byline reads suspiciously like one submitted under the name of Rep. Dan Brown, R-Rolla. Odds are neither Mrs. Ruestman nor Brown authored the column.

Brown writes:

"In the first week of February, we passed a bill expanding our highly-successful Quality Jobs Program. The program has been a resounding success since its creation in 2005 and is responsible for creating jobs that pay well and provide health insurance benefits. This bill removes the cap on tax credits which can be offered to companies creating these jobs. This will allow more projects to be approved. In addition, the bill emphasizes the growth of small businesses, start-up companies, and the research and development community. It also provides tax credits to offset expenses related to scientific development in fields such as agricultural biotechnology and prescription pharmaceuticals. Our top priority is job creation, and these efforts will help out-of-work Missourians get back on their feet. Although we were able to work together and pass this bill within the first month of session, the bill has stalled in the Senate."

Mrs. Ruestman wrote:

"In the first week of February, we passed a bill expanding the Quality Jobs program. The program is responsible for creating jobs that pay well and provide health insurance benefits. This bill removes the cap on tax credits which can be offered to companies creating these jobs. In addition, the bill emphasizes the growth of small businesses, start-up companies and the research and development community. Our top priority is job creation, and these efforts will help out-of-work Missourians get back on their feet. Although we were able to work together and pass this bill within the first month of session, the bill has stalled in the Senate."

Brown wrote:

We have also passed two bills related to the education of our children. The first bill, known as the Teacher Protection Act, gives teachers the ability to maintain order as long as they follow established school policy. It also exempts unqualified employees who refuse to administer medication or medical services from disciplinary action. Most importantly, the bill will allow school employees to focus on teaching without worrying about litigation.

The second education-related bill we passed gives school districts the option to establish a four-day school week upon a majority vote of the school board. The number of required hours in a school year remains at 1,044, but the number of days would be 142 rather than 174. Allowing a four-day school week helps school districts counteract the budget cuts many schools are facing. A four-day school week decreases spending on overhead costs such as heating and transportation, leaving more funds available for educational essentials.

Mrs. Ruestman wrote:

"We have also passed two education bills. The Teacher Protection Act gives teachers the ability to maintain order as long as they follow established school policy. It also exempts unqualified employees who refuse to administer medication or medical services from disciplinary action. Most importantly, the bill will allow school employees to focus on teaching without worrying about litigation. The second education-related bill we passed gives school districts the option to establish a four-day school week upon a majority vote of the school board. The number of required hours in a school year remains at 1,044, but the number of days would be 142 rather than 174. Allowing a four-day school week helps school districts counteract the budget cuts many schools are facing. A four-day school week decreases spending on overhead costs such as heating and transportation, leaving more funds available for educational essentials."

Brown wrote:

"Another important piece of legislation changes the laws regarding the consent requirements for obtaining an abortion. This bill provides women with clear and detailed information regarding the abortion procedure. A doctor must provide information to the woman 24 hours before the procedure including the opportunity to see an ultrasound and hear the baby’s heartbeat. The bill also makes it a crime to force a woman to have an abortion. It’s important to point out that coercion isn’t something as simple as a conversation. We do not want to stop discussion on this highly important issue. Instead, our bill would simply say that individuals who threaten or force a woman into committing an abortion would be guilty of a felony."

Mrs. Ruestman wrote (though she did have her paragraphs in a different order than Brown's):

"An important piece of legislation changes the laws regarding the consent requirement for obtaining an abortion. This bill provides women with clear and detailed information regarding the abortion procedure. A doctor must provide information to the woman 24 hours before the procedure including the opportunity to see an ultrasound and hear the baby’s heartbeat. The bill also makes it a crime to force a woman to have an abortion. This bill simply says that individuals who threaten or force a woman into committing an abortion would be guilty of a felony."

This is far from the first time Mrs. Ruestman has had a column with similar or exact wording of another legislator's column. In the Dec. 13, 2005, Turner Report, I noted that Mrs. Ruestman and Rep. Ron Richard, R-Joplin, had submitted columns under their own names which were nearly the same as a column written by then Speaker of the House Rod Jetton. This plagiarism even Mrs. Ruestman using the phrase, "last week I wrote," just as Jetton did. At least Richard changed his to "recently, I wrote." Unfortunately for Mrs. Ruestman and Richard, neither of them did any of the writing.

In the Dec. 20, 2005, Turner Report, I found another instance of Mrs. Ruestman submitting a Jetton column under her own name.

In the March 5, 2006 Turner Report, I wrote about my discovery that a Joplin Daily article which listed Mrs. Ruestman, Richard and Rep. Bryan Stevenson, R-Webb City, as co-authors, also was a word-for-word repeat of a Jetton column.

Jetton was kind enough to explain the plagiarism in an e-mail that I printed in the Dec. 14, 2005, Turner Report:

"I remember being in school and the rules for copying. In the House, it is a bit different. We openly share our reports with each other. If a Rep feels like I wrote something that they agree with they are free to use it in their districts at the same time; if I like what they are saying and a agree with it I may use it in mine.
"Of course, we may change it slightly to better reflect our exact thoughts. I can assure you all the Reps have a mind of their own but many times we vote with each other on key issues and when we find a rep who is communicating the same thoughts and feelings on a issue we will use that report.
"We have given each other full authority to copy, change or do whatever the other rep wants to do with the different reports folks write. Another point is with over 2,000 different bills introduced each year on all different kinds of subjects there is no way one person can be an expert and write about each one. This way if one rep who is an expert in a certain subject writes about it and a Rep agrees or likes it can save them valuable time. We do the same when it comes to getting advice on voting on issues.
"I trust a fellow rep or constituent before I trust a lobbyist.
"Just thought I might try to clear this up. Each Rep only has one assistant who usually works on taking care of constituent problems and doesn't have time to write capitol reports for the Rep."

While I can sympathize with the long, hard hours our legislators have to put in, there is no doubt that if a legislator submits a colum, that legislator should be the one who wrote the column.

Anything else is plagiarism.