The House and Senate now both have committees on Governmental Accountability, both charged with looking into what happened to the Mamtek sucralose plant in Moberly.

Representative Jay Barnes (R-Jefferson City) Photo courtesy of House Communications

In a time of budget cuts, the House Committee on Governmental Accountability says it wants to make sure no taxpayer dollar goes wasted. Committee Chair Jay Barnes says his committee is staffed by some of the most knowledgeable House members on the budget, like Budget Chair Ryan Silvey and Chris Kelly. Barnes says both of them are very thorough in their questioning, which could mean a lot of long meetings.

Barnes says his committee’s goal is not to craft legislation, but just to look at all the facts and hear from all the interested parties before making any decisions about what to do to stop something like this from happening again.

Barnes says his committee mirrors the Senate, but is acting independently. He says it’s important to have the committee in both chambers so that there are knowledgeable people in both the House and Senate on the issue, should a bill come up regarding it.

He says the committee will be calling its first meeting at the end of November, tentatively. He says he has requested a long list of documents and testimony for the first meetings, so he wanted to give all parties time to prepare.

AUDIO Allison Blood reports. Mp3 [1:02]