Over the last decade, the federal government has implemented a piece-meal dismantling of our freedoms in exchange for the illusion of safety. We’ve traded liberty for false promises. At no other time in the history of our nation has our government had such unlimited powers over its citizens.

We’re now seeing this same trend of runaway government trickle down to the state level. As you know, the Senate is investigating the Department of Revenue amid allegations the agency is collecting and storing citizens’ private information. The new policy seems to be an attempt by the executive branch to comply with REAL ID, a federal program prohibited under state law.

The department enforced the new requirements anyway, completely ignoring the set process for promulgating new administrative rules. It took a private citizen filing a lawsuit to bring the matter to our attention. The Senate then spent three months trying to get to the bottom of this, and we’re still not even close. We’ve been stonewalled and misled at every turn.

In response, the Legislature this week cut the budget of the Division of Motor Vehicles within DOR by one-third, funding it for the next eight months instead of the full fiscal year.

We did this to send a signal that we expect more cooperation in the future as we try to discover what exactly happened. It’s also our only real option. We don’t have legal authority to force the department to comply. However, we do control state funding and how it’s appropriated, and in extreme circumstances as these, can use that power to compel state departments to follow the law.

The people deserve to know why a state agency ignored the will of the people and acted in its own best interest, a betrayal of the trust that underlies the relationship between a government and its citizens. If the department begins following state statutes and ceases scanning and retaining private information, we will appropriate sufficient funds for the remaining part of the fiscal year.

Which is why it was so surprising when the governor announced yesterday that if the General Assembly passes a budget with only partial funding for the DMV, he will begin laying off state workers within the department starting July 1, 2013, well before the eight month limit we established. His reasoning? We’ve never partially funded a department before, so his only option is to reduce state workers. What he ignores is that we’ve also never had a state department act with such an arrogant disregard for the law and the public.

We refuse to let this issue be swept under the rug, as many in the executive branch seem to hope. A Blue Ribbon committee has been established to continue investigating this situation during the interim. The committee will include Russ Oliver, the gentleman from Stoddard County who filed the original lawsuit, Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan and former U.S. attorney Todd Graves, among others.

Some would like to spin this issue as one between the governor and the Legislature. It’s not. It’s between the people and their government. The governor, myself, my colleagues, we’re just elected representatives. Our jobs in this Capitol come with an expiration date. But the government, that’s a thing much more permanent, and if we allow it to function above and outside the will of the people and the law, it sets the stage for a citizenship under the yoke of an oppressive bureaucracy.

This isn’t an exaggeration. It’s not hyperbole. We like to imagine that tyranny rears its head through dramatic, historic events. Often, though, it’s much more insidious and subtle. It’s not always tanks rolling down the street. Sometimes, it’s as seemingly minor as a state department ignoring the law, and a governor unwilling to do anything about it.

Missouri finds itself at a crossroads. How we deal with this situation will affect our state for decades. It’s not simply about concealed carry lists or politics. This is about what kind of government we want—one that serves the people, or one that serves itself? It’s a question we all need to ponder, because we’re quickly approaching a point when we will be forced to decide.

Contact Me

I always appreciate hearing your comments, opinions, and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-2459. You may write me at Wayne Wallingford, Missouri Senate, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101, or email at wayne.wallingford@senate.mo.gov or www.senate.mo.gov/wallingford.