Repeals a requirement that appointment of commissioners to the Bi-State Development Agency shall be made from panels
Summary
SB 600 repeals section 70.385 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, which currently governs how commissioners are appointed to the Bi-State Development Agency. Under the repealed provision, the governor’s appointments to the agency’s five-member board were required to come from nominee panels submitted by the mayor of St. Louis City and the county executive of St. Louis County, with a specified rotation for the fifth seat. By removing this section, the bill eliminates those statutory panel-based nomination requirements.
In practical terms, the bill would change the appointment process for the Bi-State Development Agency board by removing the legal mandate that local officials submit three-person nominee panels for gubernatorial selection. The bill does not replace the repealed language with a new appointment structure, so the effect is to strike the existing statutory framework and leave the appointment process to whatever other law or authority remains applicable. The measure concerns the governance of a regional transit and development entity serving the St. Louis area.
Impact
The bill would amend Missouri law by repealing section 70.385, RSMo, thereby removing the statutory rules that tied certain Bi-State Development Agency commissioner appointments to nominee panels from St. Louis City and St. Louis County officials. This would affect the governor’s appointment authority, the mayor of St. Louis City, and the St. Louis County executive, as well as the composition and selection process for the agency’s board of commissioners. The repeal would also eliminate the alternating nomination structure for the fifth commissioner seat and the related appointment order provisions.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears administrative and structural rather than controversial in the materials provided. There are no committee transcripts or recorded votes included, so no direct evidence of support or opposition is available. The caption suggests the bill was intended to simplify or remove a specific appointment requirement, but the available record does not show whether that change was broadly welcomed or opposed.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is the shift in appointment power away from a locally balanced nomination process. Supporters of repeal may view the current panel requirement as unnecessary or overly restrictive, while opponents may see it as an important safeguard ensuring representation for both St. Louis City and St. Louis County in Bi-State Development Agency governance. Because the bill repeals the section without substituting a new detailed appointment procedure, another possible concern is uncertainty about how commissioner appointments would be made afterward.