Clint Zweifel

In a unanimous vote, the Missouri Housing Development Commission passed a $122 million plan to combat homelessness in Missouri. State Treasurer Clint Zweifel championed the plan and said that it will provide long-term housing for homeless Missourians. 

We are going to embark on the creation of sustainable long-term housing that begins the process of eliminating homelessness for 24,000 Missourians, of which 5,000 are veterans and 16,000 are school-age children with an average age of eight.

The passage follows praise and an endorsement of the plan from the St. Louis Post Dispatch Editorial Board in today’s paper.

Missouri has about 24,000 homeless people. Mr. Zweifel's modest proposal will barely make a dent in that number. But it's a start. Leveraging state and private dollars to put a roof over the heads of our state's neediest citizens is precisely the role the MHDC should be playing.

State Senator Brad Lager, who is the rumored retread GOP candidate for State Treasurer, raised $0 in the second quarter of 2010.

Meanwhile, State Treasurer Clint Zweifel raised over $200,000 in quarter two and has over $530,000 in the bank.

Brian Hook of the Franklin Center's Missouri Watchdog website captured and posted videos of all the big speeches as this weekend's Democrat Days event in Hannibal.   Sen. Claire McCaskill, Gov. Jay Nixon, Rep. Russ Carnahan, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, Treasurer Clint Zweifel and Attorney General Chris Koster all spoke at the Saturday brunch or banquet. 

Video of all their remarks may be found here.

At this morning's Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) meeting, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder cast the only vote against a proposal to pay the first year of property taxes for working families making less than $98,000 a year who purchase a new or existing Missouri home next year. The grants will be for owner-occupied purchases only.

The plan, which is expected to help 9,000-11,000 Missouri families using $15 million in MHDC reserve funds, passed by a 7-1 vote.

Qualified individuals and families will be eligible to receive $1,250 or the amount of their first year's real estate tax bill, whichever is highest, when they purchase a new or existing residential home. An income-qualified individual or family can enhance this base amount, up to $1,750, if they purchase an energy-efficient new home or make energy efficient improvements to an existing home that is purchased. 

Today, Treasurer Clint Zweifel called for a series of reforms to remove conflicts of interest for members of the Missouri Housing Development Commission.

Zweifel plans to present his full proposed ethics policies to a commission subcommittee on July 7. Zweifel said a strengthened standards of conduct policy would include meaningful and enforceable rules, including

• Commissioners and staff should have no personal financial relationships with anyone receiving benefits from MHDC. If that were the case, the commissioner or staff member should notify the entire commission in public meeting prior to any discussion and then recuse himself or herself from any vote at a minimum.
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No law required him to do it.  Many won't be happy he did it.  But new State Treasurer Clint Zweifel has again taken the high road of public openness--- this time by publicly announcing a federal investigation of the Missouri Housing Development Commission.

Here is an excerpt of Columbia Tribune coverage by veteran reporter Terry Ganey:

Pete Ramsel, the chief staff member of the state’s low-income housing program, said yesterday he was questioned a year ago by FBI agents inquiring into the operations of the Missouri Housing Development Commission.

Ramsel, the commission’s executive director, said he did not want to discuss the nature of his interview with federal agents, citing a request by the FBI that he keep the information confidential. “I know there is an FBI investigation going on,” he told The Associated Press.

Ramsel said he was only disclosing it now because state Treasurer Clint Zweifel had made it public. Zweifel is the new chairman of the commission, which awards developers millions of dollars in tax credits a year to create housing for the poor and elderly.

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This morning:

• Outrage with AIG is overflowing. Russ Carnahan and others are pushing legislation to recoup bonuses from bailout firms. [Post-Dispatch] [CNN][CQ]

• Treasurer Zweifel struck a deal with bankers to increase the interest rate banks pay for state time deposits. Under the agreement, banks would gradually phase in the payment of competitive interest rates for state deposits. At the same time, the state’s linked deposit program, which loans money through local banks at low interest to small businesses, will grow to serve companies of 100 or fewer employees. [Daily Tribune]