Missouri Gov. Nixon signs bi-partisan license office reform bills

Competitive and transparent license office award process implemented by Nixon was embraced by overwhelming majorities in the General Assembly

July 1, 2009 -- SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Immediately after taking office in January, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon ended a longstanding tradition of political patronage by putting up for competitive bid the state's system of 183 license offices. Today, Gov. Nixon signed into law House Bill 381 and House Bill 683, which codify his reforms in statute and ensure that the open and transparent bidding system he implemented will remain in place in future years.

Gov. Nixon signed these bills during a public ceremony at the South Fremont license office in Springfield, which was awarded earlier this year under the new competitive process to Alternative Opportunities Inc., a non-profit that provides individualized support services to individuals with disabilities, transitional and residential services for youth and career services. Gov. Nixon was joined by Department of Revenue Director Karen Mitchell, whose department oversees the bidding process.

"For too long, the only meaningful factor in determining who ran our state's license offices was political support. When I took office, we removed politics from the process. We put these offices up for competitive bid as we would any other government contract, and made efficiency and service to the customer the key criteria," Gov. Nixon said. "In signing these bills into law today, I'm proud to know that these reforms will be in place even after I leave office."

During previous administrations, license offices were usually awarded to political contributors or campaign supporters based wholly on the will of the Governor. Gov. Nixon's administration instead implemented a competitive bidding process for license offices in which the Department of Revenue takes into account a variety of factors from bids -including planned hours of operation, the experience of the bidder, planned location, and business factors such as credit and financing-to ensure that offices are awarded to the bidder who will provide the best customer service. The new process also includes preferences for non-profit and civic organizations and for bidders who pledge to return some of their proceeds to the state.

Further, the process implemented by Gov. Nixon adds a component of transparency to the license office system that had been absent under the old model. Once an office has been awarded through the competitive bidding process, the bid documents and scores generated by the staff members who review them are available to the public online. Previously, the public would learn that the Governor had awarded an office to an individual or organization, but there was no objective process for award and no documentation of reasons for the decision.

The license office reforms implemented at the outset of the Nixon administration were endorsed strongly by both chambers of the General Assembly, which overwhelmingly passed legislation that codified Nixon's reforms in statute. House Bill 381 passed by a vote of 149-to-7 in the House and without opposition in the Senate. The vote on House Bill 683, which included the license office reforms and numerous other transportation provisions, was 108-to-52 in the House and 30-to-3 in the Senate.

"I applaud the bi-partisan work undertaken by the legislature to get these bills to my desk today. Legislators from both parties recognized that license office reform was sorely necessary and worked diligently to passed legislation that puts the needs of Missouri's license office customers first," Gov. Nixon said.

While the legislation will take effect on August 28, 2009, 28 license offices around Missouri have already been awarded using the new competitive bidding process.

Source: Missouri Governor