A process that began two years ago this month and is now in its final phase holds as much promise for the future of Missouri as any task undertaken in recent years. A planning project, known as "Missourians First," was inaugurated in January 1991 by House Speaker Bob Griffin, who created nine bipartisan legislative task forces to study such statewide concerns as education, health care, human services, infrastructure, economic development and crime prevention.

These House groups, in addition to members' regular legislative duties in the 1991 session, developed broad goal statements and devised ways in which some could be realized in the 1992 session. What surprised outsiders was the number of goals that were accomplished in last year's session, although the bulk of them, hardly yielding to quick action and solution, were deferred until the session that has just gotten under way.

Last fall, Speaker Griffin and the House leadership on both sides of the aisle, took the "Missourians First" program to all six regions of the state, including both St. Louis and Kansas City. At these sessions, invited citizens took part in lengthy discussions on statewide issues and offered their solutions to them. Altogether some 342 men and women attended the six regional sessions, providing the House leadership with a broad spectrum of public thinking and citizen concern. As far as we know, this was the first time in this century that so many Missourians were involved in serious discussions of broadly based, statewide problems and concerns.

The six regional conferences yielded a wide variety of issues that are troubling Missourians today. The three top problems, regional conferees said, are health care, economic development and education. These are followed by human services, crime prevention, government effectiveness, environment, tourism, transportation and agriculture. It goes without saying that if significant strides could be made in the top three topics, many of the other dilemmas would be materially assisted, if not solved.

Because Missouri is a geographically large state with a reasonable degree of diversity, it could be expected that problem areas designated by one region did not necessarily reflect the priorities of other regions. For example, citizens from St. Louis and Kansas City often voiced concerns about urban transit, whereas outstate conferees were more often worried about the lack of economic development. But all groups shared a commonality of concern over the three principal issues, which ought to be encouraging to those who contend the state is unable to reach common goals because of its geographical diversity.

Speaker Griffin and his House review groups have promised to present a broadly based "Missourians First" agenda to this year's First Session of the 87th General Assembly. This means the Legislature will be wrestling with everything from a more equitable school foundation formula to major changes in the state's health care delivery system. It also means lawmakers will have to begin to deal with Missouri's declining industrial base, its disappearing rural communities and the discouraging absence of worker retraining projects.

The legislative branch of state government does not labo~r in a vacuum and must, on almost daily basis, work closely with the executive branch, particularly the governor. For the first time in several years, the incoming chief executive, Mel Carnahan, has formed transition study groups designed to assist him in tackling many, if not all, of the problems under consideration by "Missourians First." It is unlikely the transition groups will encompass as much study and consideration as the House policy group, which has been at the task longer and is more broadly based. Hopefully, the recommended courses of both groups will be close enough to assure productive continuity of action.

We have applauded the House initiative since the day it began, since we believe it clearly demonstrates a willingness on the part of elected officials to carry out more than the usual political household chores that are so popular because they are so politically risk-free. Public officials who must curry voter support are much more content to face the electorate with non-controversial records than ones crowded with achievement that also require public sacrifice. The safe way to remain in office is to do little, demanding nothing from the voters by making a virtue of inactivity and no sacrifice. Politicians who follow this path can stay in office forever, or at least they could until term limitations were approved last November.

Such tactics, however, never move the state ahead and only stifle progress. "Missourians First" is the first program in a long time to promise Missourians a better tomorrow.