On Wednesday Gov. Matt Blunt approved the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission’s nomination of Omar Davis to serve as the new director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Davis, of Jefferson City, is the director of Legal Services Division and general counsel for the Department of Revenue. Davis previously served as Deputy General Counsel in the governor’s office and Securities Enforcement Council for Blunt when he was Secretary of State.

Davis, 32, holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Kansas State University and a juris doctorate from the University of Missouri School of Law.

Davis’ appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.

Yesterday Blunt also nominated Rod Chapel, the current director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations whom Davis will replace, to a six-year term on the Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission.

Prior to his role as the head of the DLIR, Chapel worked as the Legal Services Division Director and general counsel for the Department of Revenue.

Chapel, 37, previously served as an associate in the Sly James Law Firm. Mr. Chapel holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Oklahoma State University, a juris doctorate from Tulane Law School and a master of laws in taxation from Washington University School of Law.

Chapel will replace Terry Jarrett. His nomination is subject to Senate confirmation for a term ending September 12, 2013.

Last week, Governor Matt Blunt and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay joined to declare Missouri a State of ONE to help raise awareness about global disease and poverty with the ONE Campaign, a non-partisan national program dedicated to the cause.

Here is the raw video of the announcement:

Governor Matt Blunt was on CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” last week to discuss his new order that everyone pulled over by the Highway Patrol must have their immigration status checked.

The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis warned that the executive order could lead to more racial profiling. Jorge Riopedre, the group’s secretary and legislative affairs chairman, told the Post-Dispatch that law enforcement agencies may single out “Hispanic-looking” people, and take them directly to an immigration judge. He predicted that legal immigrants or citizens could find themselves unfairly forced to prove their status.

“This is not about illegal immigration. It’s about due process,” Riopedre told the Post.

PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE

At an unrelated press conference this morning, PubDef reporter Gabe Bullard asked Governor Matt Blunt about the status of his two controversial education appointees, Rick Sullivan and Derio Gambaro. The governor said he remains hopeful that Democratic Senators Jeff Smith (Gambaro’s senator) and Joan Bray (Sullivan’s senator) will come around and support the men.

Previous Stories:

Advice and Consent: When and Why Not?

SLPS: Our Czar Still Reigns

LETTER: Sullivan, Gambaro Withdrawn

BLUNT WITHDRAWS SULLIVAN, GAMBARO

Will Blunt Withdraw Sullivan? Gambaro Too?

There is a bit of Constitutional confusion in Jefferson City today.

As readers of PubDef had expected for weeks (and readers of the Post just found out today), Governor Matt Blunt withdrew the names of two of his controversial education appointees during last week’s special session of the State Legislature. Both State Board of Education appointee Derio Gambaro and St. Louis Public Schools CEO Rick Sullivan were withdrawn from Senate confirmation because of lack of support from their home senators — a customary requirement for successful confirmation.

PubDef has reported than both men are expected to be resubmitted to the Senate soon and would remain in power until at least January, when the Senate reconvenes and again takes up gubernatorial appointments. However, the Governor’s office believes it is not necessary to resubmit their names to the senate before next year.

According to a source close to the situation, the Governor believes that simply having the nominees on file with the Secretary of State’s office is sufficient enough for the two men to continue to serve on a interim basis. The well-placed source says the Governor is considering not resubmitting the names to the senate until next year.

However, the Missouri Constitution clearly states, in the case of Gambaro, that appointments to the Board of Education must be made with the “advice and consent of the Senate.” The law creating Sullivan’s positions says the same thing. And apparently, the Senate’s Republican leadership agrees.

State Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons (R-Kirkwood) told the Post-Dispatch the decision to pull the names was mutual to avoid a Senate vote. He also said he agrees with Blunt’s staff that Sullivan and Gambaro still hold their posts for now. But Gibbons also said he believes the state constitution requires that the governor renew their interim appointments by September 19 if he wants them to stay on until the Senate reconvenes in January.

If these men serve for three months without being submitted to the Senate, it may put every action, vote and decision under close legal scrutiny. And in the case of Sullivan, who serves on a three-person board, if any important decisions are made by a vote of 2-1, a judge may later rule the vote was in fact 1-1 since Sullivan could not legally cast a vote — especially if he is ultimately not confirmed by the Senate.

Developing…

Previous Stories:

SLPS: Our Czar Still Reigns

LETTER: Sullivan, Gambaro Withdrawn

BLUNT WITHDRAWS SULLIVAN, GAMBARO

Will Blunt Withdraw Sullivan? Gambaro Too?

Governor Matt Blunt today signed the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit Act into law as part of his larger economic development package.

Other provisions of the new law include expanding the Quality Jobs Tax Credit for businesses that add jobs with above average wages and health benefits, expanding tax credits for filmmakers, and legalizing ticket scalping in Missouri.

Click here to download House Bill 1.

PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE

In the following two-page letter from Governor Matt Blunt to the Missouri Senate, the names of 10 different appointees were pulled from consideration. According to sources, only two (SLPS CEO Rick Sullivan and State Board of Education appointee Derio Gambaro) were pulled because of controversy. The others, including Harris-Stowe University regent Wayman Smith, were pulled because they were unable to make the Senate hearing or some other minor reason.

Click image to enlarge

Blunt will likely re-appoint most, if not all, of the people on this list following the end of this special session of the Missouri Legislature. The Senate would then take up these appointments again during their regular session next year.

However, it is still not known whether Sullivan or Gambaro’s senators (Jeff Smith and Joan Bray, respectively) will be willing to support their appointments next session either.

In Missouri, the governor selects a judge to serve on the Supreme Court from a panel of three candidates submitted by the Appellate Judicial Commission. The Appellate Judicial Commission is made up of the presiding chief justice, three lawyers chosen by the Missouri Bar and three people appointed by governors.

Before they make the cut, the Supreme Court candidates are asked to complete a questionnaire. Governor Matt Blunt’s office has posted their responses on the Governor’s website. Click here to read them.

The term of St. Louis Public Schools’ chief executive officer may be even shorter than many predicted.

Governor Matt Blunt’s appointment to the Special Administrative Board of the city schools, Rick Sullivan, has yet to be confirmed by the State Senate, and is unlikely to be unless his senator, Joan Bray, sponsors him.

Blunt appointed Sullivan after the legislature ended its last session. As a recess appointment, Sullivan would normally not have to be confirmed until the senate came back in January.

But as the state legislature reconvenes this week, there is growing speculation that Blunt will withdraw Sullivan from the CEO post to avoid his senate rejection and reappoint him again after the special session.

Governor Matt Blunt today officially called a special session of the Missouri General Assembly beginning August 20, 2007.

From the press release:

“I want to thank the leaders of the General Assembly for their great spirit of cooperation that I believe will ultimately lead to the passage of these important priorities for Missouri’s transportation infrastructure and Missouri jobs,” Blunt said.

Blunt is asking state lawmakers to fast track the Safe and Sound Bridge Improvement Program to repair or replace more than 800 Missouri bridges and enact an economic development package which includes an expansion of the governor’s successful Quality Jobs Act.

Blunt announced his intention to call the legislature into special session after vetoing House Bill 327 and reaching a consensus to pass a more restrained bill that would expand the Quality Jobs programs.

One of the most controversial parts of HB 327 was a $100 million Land Assemblage Tax Credit which, as far as anyone could tell, only one man, “Blairmont” developer Paul McKee, qualified for.

Meanwhile, Democrats are calling Blunt’s special session a gift to special interests and his lobbyist brother.

From the Missouri Democratic Party:

Gov. Matt Blunt today called the Missouri Legislature into a special session to work on $70 million worth of special interest giveaways, including a law allowing ticket scalping that will directly benefit his lobbyist brother, Andy Blunt, whose client Ticketmaster wants to resell tickets on the Internet.

While Blunt’s call for a special session won’t include tax relief for average Missouri families, it does include a controversial tax break for a wealthy St. Louis developer to buy private land in St. Louis.

“Matt Blunt has made a mockery of this special session by insisting that the needs of his brother’s lobbying clients get put ahead of the economic interests of our state,” said Jack Cardetti, Missouri Democratic Party spokesman. “Instead of wasting taxpayer money on a special session for special interests, Matt Blunt should put Missouri’s working families first for a change.”

This will be the second time in three years that Gov. Blunt has had to call legislators into a special session to fix mistakes made just months before by him and the Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

According compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Missouri’s economy is lagging behind the rest of the country. BLS reports that:

• Missouri’s unemployment rate, 4.8%, is above the national average.
• From May to June (the latest BLS report) Missouri lost 6,600 jobs, the most of any state except Maryland.
• Over the past year, Missouri’s job growth is the 16th worst in the country. (June 2006-June 2007, 0.94%)
• Since Gov. Blunt took office, Missouri has the 22nd worst job growth rate. If Missouri’s economy had grown at the country’s mean growth rate under the Blunt administration, 26,750 more Missourians would have jobs today.

According to estimates from 2005, the special session will cost approximately $100,000 per week.