CCS/HCS/SB 883 - This act contain provisions for accountability for the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission and the Department of Transportation. Provisions about billboards, the Highway Patrol, the State Auditor and contractors are also included. It is exactly the same as CCS/SCS/HCS/HB's 1681 & 1342.

JOINT COMMITTEE - The act establishes a Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight, composed of 7 Senators, 7 Representatives and 3 ex officio members (Auditor, Director of Oversight, Commissioner of Administration). The Joint Committee shall review the annual report from the Department of Transportation and may make recommendations. The committee shall submit its record to the chief officers of the House and Senate.

REPORT - The Department of Transportation is required to submit a detailed report by November 10th each year to the Governor and General Assembly. The report shall include the following: (1) Sources and expenditures of all funds; (2) The criteria used to select construction projects; (3) The allocation of money and the proposed work plan for the current year and next 4 years (all modes of transportation); (4) The amounts planned, estimated and expended by project for construction work (any mode); (5) The status of the 15 Year Highway and Bridge Program; (6) The reasons for any significant increases or decreases in any projects; (7) Any recommendations; (8) The spending of all funds according to highway district; and (9) Any other information requested by the new joint committee.

DIRECTOR - The Highways and Transportation Commission shall appoint a Director of the Department of Transportation (MoDOT). The Director shall serve at the pleasure of the Commission, shall be a citizen and resident of Missouri, and shall have 5 years of management experience. The Director will oversee the other chief officers and run MoDOT, subject to the direction of the Commission. The Director shall provide a quarterly version of the above report to the Commission.

ENGINEERS - The Chief Engineer shall be responsible for all engineering documents and shall have oversight of the construction and maintenance work for MoDOT. Supervisory engineers in MoDOT shall be registered professional engineers in this state.

HIGHWAY PATROL - The provision for cost-of-living increases equivalent to those of state merit employees is repealed.

STATE AUDITOR - The Auditor shall use the data and information provided by the report to the Advisory Committee (above), where practical, when performing an audit of MoDOT.

BILLBOARDS - This act provides two changes for local regulation of billboards. Any city or county may regulate the size, lighting and spacing of billboards more restrictively than state law. However, no city or county may charge more than a $500 initial inspection fee or a business tax of over 2% of the gross annual revenue generated by the billboard. (SB's 582, 706)

CONTRACTORS - Contractors and subcontractors working for the state are penalized for knowingly hiring illegal aliens. The penalty is a withholding of up to 20% of the amount of the contract or subcontract. Contractors will pay double that amount if they knowingly hire a subcontractor which uses illegal aliens. In addition, the contractors and subcontractors would be ineligible to perform contracts for the state for a 2-year period.
MICHAEL HOEFERKAMP