Department of Revenue Investigation Continues

This week in the state Capitol the members of the Bipartisan Investigative Committee on Privacy Protection met to continue their comprehensive look into the document sharing scandal that took place within the Missouri Department of Revenue. As I am sure you recall, the department initially denied that it had shared the private information of Missouri citizens with the federal government or anyone else. However, as the legislature began to seek the facts, we uncovered the ugly truth that a list of 163,000 Missouri gun owners had in fact been sent to the federal government. This disturbing revelation is one that has caused people in our area and throughout the state to be very displeased with the actions of our executive branch.

While we passed several bills during session to prevent the Department of Revenue from ever again committing a similar violation of the public’s trust, we also owe it to the people to uncover all of the facts of this case. That has been the goal of the investigative committee since it was first formed during the legislative session. This week the committee focused on the fact our revenue department was actively working to comply with the federal REAL ID Act. Missouri actually has a law on the books to prevent compliance with this federal act that would strip away our privacy rights. The fact that department was actively working to comply with this federal law in direct defiance of our own state law is something that should give all of us pause. It is certainly something we must work to ensure doesn’t continue.

Another issue of note with the investigation is that it has been difficult to get the executive branch to willingly participate. While the people deserve the truth and should expect their public officials to be forthcoming with important information, we have not seen this kind of transparency or accountability so far in the process. To help move things along, the committee will next employ the legal process by issuing subpoenas to key officials who can provide the testimony necessary to get to the bottom of this issue. It is unfortunate that it has come to this, but the committee will continue to do what it must to find the truth.