Republican House Speaker Ron Richard's spokesperson says little time was spent discussing former Speaker Rod Jetton's recent assault allegations.

Instead, as planned, the Caucus spent time discussing plans for the approaching legislative session, which begins Jan. 6.

The caucus did discuss ethics for state lawmakers, according to Richard's spokesperson.

A bill filed for the 2010 legislative session would give Missourians the chance to vote on whether the state participates in federal health care reform.

State Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, the bill's sponsor, says many of her constituents are concerned about the national health care plan and want the freedom to choose their own health care.

But State Sen. Robin Wright-Jones, D-St. Louis, says Missouri needs to give the federal government a chance to reform the health care system.

The bill is a strong political move against the president, she said.

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The Missouri Roundtable for Life filed litigation against Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and State Auditor Susan Montee over the ballot summary of their most recent initiative.

The initiative would prevent the use of health care dollars on abortion and stem cell research.

The coalition says the wording was biased against the bill and would cause voters to vote against it.

Carnahan's office denies these claims, citing a similar lawsuit which was denied earlier in the summer.

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Springfield-based, not-for-profit Alternative Opportunities Inc. originally won the management contract bid, but failed to disclose its work with a for-profit corporation, according to the state's Revenue Department.

In effect, 10 motor vehicle and license offices across the state will have their management contracts re-bid.

Those include offices in Ava, Camdenton, Creve Coeur, Joplin, Nevada, Olivette, Poplar Bluff, Republic and Springfield.

Past governors used a patronage system to award fee offices, but Gov. Jay Nixon decided this year to bid them out.

"After studying the issue, we determined that re-bidding the offices was the right thing to do," Revenue Department director Alana Barragan-Scott said in a news release.

Scott said the new bidding system will ensure accountability and enable the Revenue Department to deal with problems fairly.

The Missouri Capitol Police announced it received accreditation recognition from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies on Tuesday.

The accreditation comes after a three-year process of an "agency-wide self-evaluation, an exacting outside review by an independent assessor and an examination of Capitol Police standards and practices by a (Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement) panel of law enforcement professionals," according to a release by the Public Safety Department.

This recognition will last for three years and will be reviewed again in November 2012 when the Capitol Police will be eligible for full law enforcement accreditation status.

Missouri Capitol Police Chief Todd Hurt called the accreditation recognition "a great step for Capitol Police."

To get the recognition, the department had to review their current practices and procedures and add ones they didn't have.

Over the next three years the department must go through the total 100 standards and fulfill what is needed to order to get full accreditation, Hurt said. 

Gov. Jay Nixon announced the details of a new bill that would overhaul the way driving while intoxicated offenses are handled.

Nixon presented the bill as part of a three stop tour through the state. Beginning in Hannibal, Nixon also made stops in St. Louis County and Cape Girardeau County.

Among the legislative steps proposed in the bill are:

• Requiring offenders with a blood-alcohol level of .15 and above, as well as those who decline to submit to a blood-alcohol test, to be tried in state as opposed to municipal courts;

• Making it a crime to refuse to submit to a blood-alcohol test. Currently, the penalty for refusal to submit to the test is a one-year administrative suspension of a driver's license, said Scott Holste, a spokesman for the governor. This new legislation would change the administrative suspension to a criminal penalty;

• Requiring first offenders with a blood-alcohol level of .15 and those who refuse to submit to a test to install an interlock device. Current law only requires these devices for repeat offenders;

• Requiring all DWI information to be entered into the State Highway Patrol's Driving While Intoxicated System; and

• Prohibiting defendants from withdrawing guilty pleas when reaching the end of a probation period under a suspended imposition of sentence.

The new DWI legislation will be sponsored by Rep. Brian Stevenson, R-Joplin, and Rep. Rachel Bringer, D-Palmyra. While it has not yet been filed, Holste said he expects the legislation to be filed very soon.

This legislation follows a summit on DWI enforcement on Nov. 4 that was prompted by a series of stories in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch detailing problems with DWI enforcement, especially in the St. Louis area.

The attorneys general of Ohio and Connecticut have sued three of the largest credit rating agencies on behalf of their state employees' pension funds. Chris Rackers, manager of investment policy and communication for MOSERS, the state employees' pension fund, said the fund is not considering asking Missouri's Attorney General Chris Koster to do the same.

The lawsuits from Ohio and Connecticut focus on ratings for investments that involved mortgage-backed securities. Rackers said MOSERS held investments in mortgage-backed securities, these investments came from external managers. The external managers, she said, have told the firm that their investment decisions were made independent of credit rating agencies, instead using their own internal "underwriting for risk and stress testing."

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During the Senate Appropriation Committee's hearing, several people gave testimonies to receive state funding.

Among those requesting funding were economic development centers.

Sen. Tim Green, D-St. Louis County, said he would like to see results from economic developments centers before they receive more state funding.

Center for Emerging Technologies spokesman Jim Farrell said the company helped create 35 new businesses this year.

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According to the Cole County sheriff, former Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton turned himself in at 11:53 p.m. on Dec. 7 and was released about a half hour later.

He was released after a bail bondsman posted $2,500 dollars bail.

An e-mail from Jetton's attorney released on the afternoon of Dec. 8 said Jetton was dissolving his political consulting firm and leaving politics to be with his family. Jetton has advised several Republicans since leaving office a year ago.

Sen. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, a former client of Jetton's, said that he has not used Jetton's services since January of 2009, and tried to get his name off Jetton's client list.

Calls to previous clients of Jetton's and politicians he worked with were not immediately returned.

Jetton's current and past clients included Sens. Jason Crowell, Rob Mayer and Luann Ridgeway, House Majority Leader Steven Tilley and Majority Whip Brian Nieves, as well as Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

Jetton has not yet been arraigned. The Scott County circuit clerk's office said it is waiting for the return of service back on the warrant, at which time it will schedule a court date.

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Sen. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, was listed as a recent client of the Rod Jetton & Associates political consulting firm before the Web site was taken down sometime Tuesday.

Mayer says he hasn't used Jetton's services since January and even asked the former speaker numerous times to remove his name from the Web site.

After being charged with assault, Jetton turned himself in to the Cole County Sheriff's Office late Monday night and was released on bond early Tuesday morning.

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All state departments want for Christmas is to keep funding at current levels.

Facing revenue collections that are expected to decrease close to $1 billion compared with fiscal year 2008, the Senate Appropriations Committee met Monday to hear testimony on funding for state departments. While most of those who testified acknowledged the state's dire financial situation, they also asked the committee to keep their funding at current levels.

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One Missouri state representative has sponsored legislation that would give voters a choice when it comes to the national health care bill.

Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon, has sponsored legislation that would allow voters to effectively put a halt on the national health care legislation. Davis said her intent was to give voters a way to protect themselves.

"We (Missourians) don't like it when people try to take away our freedom. We will maintain the right to purchase health care however we chose," Davis said. "This national health care debate is not about health care as much as it is about redistribution of the wealth. This resolution allows voters to say don't redistribute our wealth here in Missouri. We have the ability to make choices, and we want to preserve that."

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An immediate arrest warrant has been filed in southeast Missouri for former House speaker Rod Jetton for second-degree felony assault.

According to the alleged victim, Jetton hit and choked her at her home Nov. 15. Jetton and the alleged victim were drinking wine and watching football after agreeing earlier in the day to have sex, according to the probable cause statement. The woman told police she and Jetton had never previously dated or been in a relationship.

The woman told police she drank a glass of wine Jetton had poured for her, then began losing consciousness. When she awoke, Jetton was hitting her "very hard," according to the probable cause statement. She said after drifting in and out of consciousness again, she awoke to Jetton choking her and having sex with her.

The statement says photographs of the bruises were taken.

Jetton, who is recently divorced, runs a political consulting business in Jefferson City. He was seen in Jefferson City just hours before news of his arrest warrant was issued. A call to Jetton's cell phone was not immediately returned.

Several high profile Missouri politicians are listed as clients of Jetton's consulting firm, including Majority Floor Leader Steven Tilley and Majority Whip Brian Nieves.

Eric Brooks, Vice President of Rod Jetton & Associates, said he did not know Jetton's whereabouts or how to contact him. 

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