Carol Stark: Candid talk paves way for 2010w/ Community Conversation interview audio

Before I left for China, Missouri House Speaker Ron Richard asked if he could bring a few committee chairs to the Globe to meet members of the editorial board.

I thought it was a great idea. In recent years, many newspapers — including us — have lost their fulltime statehouse correspondent positions. Of course, that doesn’t mean our readers are any less interested in what’s going on at Jefferson City.

So we use the months before a new session to find out what bills our elected officials are planning to file, and how many of them will merit serious attention. Last session more than 2,000 bills were pre-filed with about 100 of them actually making it out of committee.

There’s a lot to keep an eye on. So when someone offers an opportunity for a sit-down discussion, you take it in the hopes of better understanding what’s next for Missourians.

When I returned from overseas, I learned that more than 20 members of the Republican leadership were planning to make the trip to the Globe and the dynamics of the editorial board changed significantly. The question list was shortened, the number of chairs were increased and the expectations were high.

I wasn’t disappointed. We met for about two hours discussing term limits, campaign finance contributions and concerns about next year’s budget.

The first 30 minutes were taken up with introductions, and for me, that’s what made the other 90 minutes more meaningful. Richard introduced the representatives by district, told us what committees they were on or headed, but then went on to tell us what they did for a living.

Retail store owners, a former conservation agent, a soldier who had been wounded in Iraq, doctors, accountants, and of course, a guy who owns a bowling alley. It puts a lot in perspective when you think of them in terms of individuals.

The same held true during discussions. It became evident that they weren’t all speaking with one voice. For example, some believed term limits were detrimental to the voter because it sometimes meant good leaders were out the door after eight years. Others thought term limits spurred the newly elected legislators to hit the ground running and make the most of their time.

Last session, a bill which would have mandated insurance providers to cover costs of behavioral treatment for children with autism, never made it out of committee. Richard, during the spring, said it was because there was not enough consensus. Pretty much the same bill will be filed again during the next session.

Because the Ozark Center for Autism is located in Joplin, this legislation is of particular interest to many of our readers. At first, I thought it was clear that the bill would get more support, but about halfway through the discussion, there was suggestion that insurance would only cover 30 to 40 percent of the children with autism. Some of the legislators believed it was an education issue and the funding needed to go to the school system, rather than by treating autism in much the same way you would juvenile diabetes.

Within 10 minutes, I had heard five completely different takes on the bill. It was an example, in probably a much more polite setting, of how our bills either make it into law, or get left in committee.

Paul Levota, Democratic minority chairman, has agreed to a similar meeting with the Globe editorial board in the coming month, and we look forward to that meeting.

Out of these types of meetings come the basis for news stories, editorials and columns for months to come.

I would invite you to send me questions for your state legislators as the new session approaches. It’s sure to be one of the more challenging for leaders on both sides of the aisle.