Blunt says no to lawmaker keys to Capital dome

JEFFERSON CITY — Gov. Matt Blunt vetoed a bill that would have given every lawmaker a key to the Capitol dome.

Blunt said Capitol police and the Department of Public Safety had serious concerns about the measure.

The Capitol dome is open to the public only on a limited basis. House and Senate administrators already have several keys, which lawmakers can borrow to take visitors up to the dome.

Lawmakers passed a bill that would have required the Office of Administration to provide a key to all 197 lawmakers.

Blunt said he wasn’t worried about lawmakers misusing keys, but he said more keys would create more likelihood they would be lost or stolen.

Public safety officials had concerns about homeland security threats and visitors suffering medical emergencies in the hard-to-reach dome.