Top-ranking House, Senate lawmakers expect to see hearings on Watch Me Smile project

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's top two legislators are calling for more government oversight into the way the state administers state business incentives, with one saying the Department of Economic Development "clearly dropped the ball" when it authorized $2 million in state aid for a Cape Girardeau project headed by a man on probation for a felony.

Incoming House speaker Rep. Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, and new Senate president pro tem Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, each said they would like to see committee hearings in their respective chambers to find out exactly what happened and what could be done better.

"We need more extensive and thorough background checks about who the state of Missouri is doing business with," Mayer said. "I think we need to look at criminal background checks, too. We don't need to be giving state money or tax credits to those who have felony convictions on their record."

Gov. Jay Nixon came to Cape Girardeau last month to announce a new $10 million dental and vision cooperative and state authorization of $2 million in state startup assistance. The media reported the next week that company CEO Weaver Dickerson was still on probation for writing more than $90,000 in bad checks in 2007, though he had signed a state application saying that no owner of the company had been convicted of a felony or was on probation.

Prosecutors in Stoddard County are looking at new charges for Dickerson and a probation revocation hearing has been set for later this month.

Nixon's office referred questions to John Fougere, the Department of Economic Development's spokesman, who said the DED had no response except to reiterate that the Watch Me Smile project received no state money.

Tilley pointed out, however, that the state money would have gone to Watch Me Smile if reports hadn't surfaced in the media about Dickerson's criminal past.

"We need to have some accountability, so tax dollars aren't going to convicted people who have frauded people out of $100,000," Tilley said. "We need to give people the assurance that this isn't going to happen again. The DED clearly dropped the ball on this."

Mayer intends to announce today the formation of the Government Accountability Committee, a standing group of about eight state senators who will be charged with investigating state departments, such as the DED, and come up with more efficient ways to run state government.

"It's not a direct response to what happened in Cape Girardeau," Mayer said. "But this committee will look into things of that nature. This would be one issue that committee will look at to make sure it doesn't happen again."

On the House side, Tilley pointed to the Committee on Government Accountability as one way the Watch Me Smile scandal can be reviewed by legislators. He expects one of the 163 House members to file a bill to look at this.

While some have criticized Cape Girardeau officials, Tilley said the buck stops with the DED.

"When the DED authorizes tax credits, they shouldn't blame anybody else," Tilley said. "At the end of the day, they're in charge of the tax credits. They're the ones that are responsible. They need to be a fail-safe. We want to make sure that they are."

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who was in Cape Girardeau this week, agreed that the legislature should be looking at what happened with the Cape Girardeau project. Kinder, who is considering a run for governor, said DED officials and Nixon should answer questions about how this happened. So far, both have been largely silent.

"It looks like more thorough background checks are done getting a loan at a pawnshop than was done for this guy," Kinder said of Dickerson. "There need to be hearings, legislative reform or a new approach before they commit the prestige of Missouri to dubious ventures."

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