Missouri lawmakers defeat public notice legislation

Friday, May 15, 2009 | 2:19 p.m. CDT; updated 2:40 p.m. CDT, Friday, May 15, 2009
BY The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri lawmakers have killed a bill over fears that it would begin to roll back the public notices that must be published in newspapers.

The public notice provision had been added to a broader county purchasing bill. The notice provisions would have allowed cities in St. Louis County to post required financial statements on their Web sites instead of putting them in newspapers as is currently required.

Just hours before the end of the legislative session Friday, the House voted 108-46 to reject the legislation.

Lawmakers critical of the bill said government's financial information should be published by independent news sources. An open-government coalition had opposed the legislation.

Republican House member Tim Jones of Eureka likened the proposed changes to a "fox guarding the hen house."

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