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Legislative budget chairs ask for restriction in use of state planes in light of low revenue, budget reductions

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The chairman of the House and Senate budget committees are asking the Highway Patrol to restrict the use of state-owned aircraft as a cost-saving move, in light of state revenue coming in below projections.  The two Republicans raise the issue in continued criticism of and response to Governor Jay Nixon’s (D) actions that cut or restrict more than $780-million dollars in the state budget for the fiscal year that begins Tuesday.

Senator Kurt Schaefer (left) and Representative Rick Stream.

Senator Kurt Schaefer (left) and Representative Rick Stream.

They focus on the use of state planes by the governor to travel the state to events including the opening or expansion of new businesses, speaking engagements and the signing or vetoing of legislation. 

In a statement Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kurt Schaefer (R-Columbia) says of Nixon, “While he continues to cut services for some of our most needy and education, he flies around in his state-of-art $6 million plane using state money to pay for the expense of pilots, maintenance, fuel, and other associated travel costs.”

He and House Budget committee Chairman Rick Stream (R-Kirkwood) on Tuesday sent a letter to the Patrol regarding the use of the state aircraft it maintains.

“We budgeted as though our revenues would grow at a certain rate, and that didn’t happen,” said Stream. “Until we can have further budget analysis, we ask the highway patrol to restrict use of all state-owned aircraft unless it is within the core mission and duty of the department to maintain public safety.”

A release from the Senate and House press offices says legislators are asking “certain state departments to look at cutting waste after the governor’s actions” on the budget, but only specifies the request made of the Highway Patrol.

Car crashes claim eight during Thanksgiving holiday weekend

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Seven people have been killed in highway crashes over the Thanksgiving holiday. Three of them died Saturday, Nov. 30, when the driver crossed the center line on West Hawken Cemetery Road in Miller County, striking another vehicle head on. The driver and two passengers were pronounced dead at the scene.

Another head-on collision claimed the life of a Hartville man on Highway 38 when he passed another car with his motorcycle and rode into the path of an oncoming car. That crash happened in Wright County Friday, Nov. 29.

Two people from Boone county were also killed Friday, Nov. 29, in a head-on crash north of Old Missouri 124, again when their vehicle crossed the center line and struck an oncoming car.

Thursday, on Thanksgiving, a St. Robert woman was killed in single-car accident in Pulaski County. The Highway Patrol reports she drove off the left side of Highway 28, struck a utility pole, overturned and then struck a second utility pole.

Wilson Brown Jr., 38, of St. Louis County, died in a traffic crash at Page and Pendleton streets in St. Louis. The St. Louis Police Department investigated the traffic crash.

Four of the six fatalities in motor vehicles were not wearing a seatbelt.

Fatal crashes over the holiday weekend are up slightly from last year, when six people died on Missouri roads over the Thanksgiving holiday counting period.

 

The victims:

  • Ashley Burns, 29, of Linn Creek was killed Nov. 30 in Miller County, 42.3 miles west of of Hawken Cemetery Road. Troop F reports Burns was traveling eastbound on Missouri 42 in a Ford Escape, when she crossed the center line and struck a Chevrolet Blazer head-on. The driver of the Blazer, Kenneth Crockett, 51, and his passenger, Tammy Luttrell, 55, of Iberia, were also killed in that crash. All three were pronounced dead at the scene by Miller County Coroner Rick Callahan. None of them were wearing a seatbelt. The collision happened about 6:15 p.m.
  • Joseph Mayo, 57, of Hartville was killed when he attempted to pass a vehicle on his Harley Davidson and rode into the path of an oncoming Ford truck. Highway Patrol Troop G reports the crash happened 38 miles east of Hartville. Mayo was flown to Mercy Hospital in Springfield where he died. Mayo was wearing a helmet. The crash happened at 12:38 p.m.
  • Another head-on collision in Boone County claimed the lives of the driver of one car and a passenger in another. Richard Vanboening, 21, of Mexico was driving a Dodge Avenger around 7 a.m. just north of Hallsville when he crossed the center line, hitting a Chevrolet S-10 driven by Timmy Bowne, 46, of Centralia, head-on. Bowne, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was pronounced dead at the scene by Boone County Medical Examiner Dori Burke. Vanboening’s passenger, Victoria Singleton, 22, of Mexico, was also pronounced dead at the scene. Vanboening was taken to University Hospital in serious condition. He has since been upgraded to fair condition.
  • Angela Tate, 52, of St. Robert was killed in a single-car accident. Troop I in Pulaski County says Tate’s Ford Explorer drove off the left side of the road and struck a utility pole, rolled onto the driver’s side and struck a second utility pole. She was pronounced dead at the scene by Pulaski County Coroner Mike Hartness. The accident happened at 6:15 a.m.
  • Wilson Brown Jr., 38, of St. Louis County, died in a traffic crash at Page and Pendleton streets in St. Louis. The St. Louis Police Department investigated the traffic crash. Police say Brown was the passenger of an SUV that lost control Saturday afternoon, Nov. 30, hit another car and overturned. The driver of the wrecked car fled the scene of the accident. A 51-year-old man, also a passenger, was taken to the hospital, and the driver was found at a hospital with unspecified injuries. The others were apparently not hospitalized.

Luetkemeyer: ATF denies wanting MO concealed carry holder list

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An official with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms has told Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer it was not part of a request from the Social Security Administration, for a list of concealed carry permit holders in Missouri.

Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-St. Elizabeth) fields questions from the media about the sharing of concealed carry information with the Social Security Administration.

Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-St. Elizabeth) fields questions from the media about the sharing of concealed carry information with the Social Security Administration.

An e-mail obtained from the Highway Patrol indicated the Bureau would be taking part in a joint investigation with the Administration that would use that list.

Congressman Luetkemeyer’s office says the Bureau believes it was mentioned in that e-mail by an intelligence analyst with the Missouri Information Analysis Center to “add weight to the request” for the list.

Luetkemeyer meets in-person tomorrow with the Social Security Administration’s Inspector General in his continuing investigation of the release of that list.

House Budget Committee questions Patrol commander about plane purchase

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The Superintendent of the state Highway Patrol has faced questions from the House Budget Committee about his agency’s purchase of a new plane.

Highway Patrol Colonel Ron Replogle answers the questions of the House Budget Committee about the recent purchase of a $5.6 million plane.

Highway Patrol Colonel Ron Replogle answers the questions of the House Budget Committee about the recent purchase of a $5.6 million plane.

Colonel Ron Replogle tells the Committee the idea to purchase the new $5.6 million dollar plane was his and his department’s, and was approved by the Department of Public Safety and the Office of Administration. He says the purchase was put out for bid December 6 and ads were placed in newspapers in Kansas City and St. Louis. It was awarded December 17 and the funds were transferred December 20.

Vice Chairman, Representative Tom Flanigan (R-Carthage), told Replogle the purchase has raised eyebrows around the Capitol.

“There are people in the building that believe the plane was more of a political purchase and that would aid in certain people’s aspirations as they go forward in the year.”

Replogle says the plane can not legally be used for political purchases, but says he regrets not calling legislative attention to the purchase earlier.

“Hindsight’s 20/20. I’ll apologize not doing that. We’ve visited with some of those folks after the fact trying to make some of these points known of the need for the aircraft. That’s my mistake and I apologize for that. We should have come to several of those folks beforehand, laid this all out for you … the needs for it … so that it wouldn’t look like what many people are accusing of us doing here.”

Replogle says he regrets the unfavorable light that the situation has cast on the Patrol, but makes clear nothing illegal or inappropriate was done.

“I’m not a politician, I’m a police officer. I run a police organization. I guess maybe I don’t understand some of the issues surrounding the plane with some of the comments. I certainly understand the questions of why we went outside the normal budget process to purchase this plane.”

Replogle says the plane joins a 1999 craft that the Patrol inherited from the Office of Administration when it took over operation of the state’s air service in 2006. He says he wanted to have two aircraft to serve 22 state agencies.

He says only about 30 percent of the use of the personnel aircraft is done by the Patrol, for missions including prisoner transport, drug trafficking interdiction and investigations.

Representative Genise Montecillo (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications.)

Representative Genise Montecillo (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications.)

Replogle estimates the plane costs about $900 per hour to operate, which was what concerned Representative Genise Montecillo (D-St. Louis) the most.

“I sit in education appropriations … and we’re having to tell young people that we’re cutting their access scholarships, we’re nowhere near fully funding the foundation formula. 900 dollars an hour to drive to a meeting anywhere in the state … I’m going to be honest, I find it appalling. It’s upsetting to me.”

Replogle tells Montecillo he can’t speak for what other agencies do, but says when the Patrol uses the plane it does a cost analysis of the cheapest way to travel.

“We actually plug our salaries in, the time it takes versus flying, versus driving. The flight we took last Friday probably would have been an overnight trip. We would have incurred hotel bills, we would have probably taken as many as three vehicles, and then we plug all those things in. We actually have a formula to show that it could be a cost savings for us to fly versus driving.”

The money for the purchase came out of a line in the budget that the Patrol is allowed to use to purchase patrol cars, boats, boat motors, trailers, aircraft and to pay for maintenance. Replogle says the purchase of some new patrol cars has been delayed and that allowed for the purchase of the plane.

“We’re in the process of changing out patrol fleet over from the Crown Victoria to mainly the Dodge Charger … we have slown down our ability to be able to get that Charger out the door because it’s more involved in the wiring processes for red lights, sirens, we now are installing two radio systems … we had ordered 350 new Dodge Chargers this year and we can’t get them out quick enough so we have delayed the purchase of about 125 of those … into next year.”

Replogle says the plane is a year-old model that the Patrol was offered a discounted price on through the end of 2012, and that made him move quickly on the purchase process. He says the purchase came with extended warranties and training for the Patrol’s four pilots. Replogle says the Patrol used a sole source bid in order to find a plane with the same operational systems that its pilots are certified under.

The Committee asked the Patrol to provide all correspondence regarding the plane with the Department of Public Safety, the Office of Administration and the Governor’s Office. Replogle says that information is being gathered.

Major Replogle to head Highway Patrol, Keathley retires

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Maj. Ronald ReplogleThe Highway Patrol leadership change begins. Maj. Ronald Replogle is the new head of the Missouri Highway Patrol. He says he’s worked under Colonel James Keathley for several years.

Replogle says he doesn’t think the patrol will notice a big change after the transition in leadership because he supports many of the successful programs Col. James Keathley put into place. One such success he noted is the reduction in traffic fatalities. Missouri has hit a low not seen for decades. Both he and Keathley attribute the reduction to strengthened enforcement in drinking and driving as well as public awareness campaigns.

However, Replogle says accidents due to inattention — namely because people are texting while driving — is a new challenge the patrol is facing.

Replogle is a 26-year veteran with the patrol, including extensive work with the Criminal Investigation Bureau. [Read more…]