Allegations that a top Republican lawmaker is under investigation by the FBI after threatening to terminate a legislative staffer is all political, according to a local GOP leader.
House Speaker Dean Plocher (R-Des Peres) denied the accusations, according to media reports.
“Dean is very interested in saving Missouri taxpayers’ money,” said Rene Artman, chair of the Republican Central Committee of St. Louis County. “I think he wanted to know all the people who worked there and what they did because we've got a budget coming up. Just like in St. Louis County, things need to be cut.”
Plocher
| Facebook
Artman was reacting to reports that Chief Clerk of the House Dana Miller allegedly resisted House Speaker Dean Plocher’s attempt to reform how constituent information is managed and then was told her job was on the line.
As previously reported in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the internal constituent management program currently in use is free.
“It was suggested by Dana that the FBI was investigating him but no one in the house said that,” Artman told the St. Louis Record. “She made reference to that and I do not believe that everything Dana said is correct.”
The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
At the center of the controversy is Plocher’s alleged desire to privatize the management of constituent information.
But Artman said the contract with Fireside is no longer under review.
“I can tell you that Fireside went to a vote, and it failed, so this is dead,” she said. “They're not going to get the new software. That means nobody's getting fired, at least not this session.”
Fireside, a subsidiary of FiscalNote, is based in Washington, D.C., and would have cost some $400,000 a year to replace the existing system.
“I believe that Dean has been a very successful speaker of the house,” Artman added. “He's got more bills passed through this last session. I support the Speaker of the House. We've been friends for several years, and I think he's doing a good job.”
The accusations came to light after The Independent conducted a public records request under Missouri’s Sunshine Law.
Plocher told The Independent that he had been “open and transparent in the interest of good government and delivering efficient services to Missourians," and that “no one has asked, received, nor will receive, any special treatment in regard to software contracts or any contracts while I am speaker.”