Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010

Kraus, Pratt removed from Special Session committee

David Lieb, The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY – Rep. Will Kraus, R-District 48, Lee’s Summit, said he was removed Monday from a House Committee considering incentives for Ford Motor Co. after refusing to pledge to vote for the legislation.

Kraus said he was summoned to the office of House Speaker Ron Richard shortly before Monday’s committee meeting was scheduled to begin.

“The speaker said, ‘Can I count on a yes vote in committee?’” Kraus recalled. “I said, ‘I’m willing to listen to debate and make an informed decision in the end.’ He said, ‘I’ve got to have a yes vote, or I’m going to replace you on the committee.’”

Richard replaced Kraus on the committee with Rep. Jerry Nolte, R-Gladstone. Nolte is lead sponsor of the legislation offering up to $15 million annually of incentives to vehicle manufactures and their suppliers. The bill is intended to persuade Ford to keep making vehicles at its Claycomo assembly plant near Kansas City.

The House Job Creation and Economic Development Committee amended the bill Monday to also include incentives for computer data centers, then endorsed the legislation with only one no vote from Democratic Rep. Michael Corcoran, of St. Ann.

A spokeswoman for Richard declined to say whether Kraus was removed from the committee for not pledging to vote for the legislation.

“The speaker has made a commitment to the governor and to the people of Missouri to do everything possible to help create and protect quality jobs in our state,” Richard’s spokeswoman Kristen Blanchard said in a written statement. “Given the state of the national economy, it is important to get this legislation to the floor for an up or down vote, and we have had to make several committee changes to expedite this goal.”

To meet the House’s schedule of debating the bill Tuesday, the automotive incentive bill also needed to clear the House Rules Committee on Monday.

Blanchard said Richard replaced three Republican members of the Rules Committee who could not make to the Capitol on Monday with others who were present. Richard, R-Joplin, named himself to the committee in place of House Majority Leader Steven Tilley, of Perryville. He also replaced House Speaker Pro Tem Bryan Pratt, of Blue Springs, on the committee with Rep. John Diehl, of Town and Country, and replaced Rep. Kenny Jones, of California, with Rep. Tom Self, of Cole Camp.

All the committee changes are temporary, Blanchard said.

But unlike the others, Kraus was at the Capitol when he was removed. Kraus said he was driving to Jefferson City when he got a call from committee Chairman Tim Flook, R-Liberty, asking if he could count on Kraus to support the bill. When Kraus declined to commit, he said Flook told him he needed to talk with the speaker when he got to the Capitol.

Flook did not immediately return a telephone message Monday seeking comment about the committee change.

Kraus voted against similar legislation offering incentives to automakers during the regular legislative session that ended in May. But Kraus said he believed his committee removal was related only to how he would vote in the special session.

Kraus said he was reluctant to commit in advance to the legislation because he wanted to learn about its implications on Missouri’s already financially strapped budget.

“I think it’s my job as a legislator to weigh the evidence and the information put in front of the committee before you just automatically jump up and say you support the bill,” Kraus said.