Without clear cost savings, governor's plan to merge Water Patrol may sink

Intro:	On the same day Gov. Nixon promoted his plan to merge the state's Water and Highway patrols, a House committee moved backward on the bill.
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Wrap: The House's top public safety committee chair says without real cost savings, the plan to merge the state's Water and Highway patrol units will sink.

State Public Safety Department Deputy Director Andrea Spillars says the state will save money.

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Description: "We estimate that over time, through attrition, we would save between $2 and $3 million."

But legislative staff say the plan's fiscal impact is "unknown."

A former Water Patrol commissioner said Gov. Nixon is pushing the plan without getting input from the Water Patrol.

From the state Capitol, I'm Theo Keith, Newsradio 1120 KMOX.

Intro:	A former Water Patrol commissioner says Gov. Nixon's plan to merge the department with the Highway Patrol will have disastrous results.
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Wrap: Former Water Patrol commissioner Rad Talburt says his former unit excels because it can focus on one thing - working the state's waterways.

Nixon's plan to merge the departments would put water patrollers on highways in the winter.

It would bring highway troopers onto Missouri's waterways in the peak summer months.

Talburt says that's dangerous.

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Description: "Just to put a Highway patrolman out in a boat that drives totally different from a car, you're lookin' for some disaster."

Talburt says training troopers in water laws, boating, and swimming takes time and money.

The plan is before the House Public Safety Committee.

The committee's Republican chairman says the bill has too many unknowns.

From the state Capitol, I'm Theo Keith, Newsradio 1120 KMOX.

Intro:	A lot of talk about how to save the state from its budget crisis, but when a House committee started to act Wednesday, it could only tread water.
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Wrap: The House's top public safety committee chair says there are too many unknowns with Gov. Nixon's plan to merge the state's Water and Highway patrols.

Former Water Patrol commissioner Rad Talburt says no one bothered to ask the patrol how the plan would work in practice.

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Description: "It's kinda like you or I waking up one morning, saying, 'Hey, I'm gonna go build a house. I have no blueprints, I have no idea what it's gonna cost me, but I think I'm just gonna go build a house.'"

Talburt followed a state Public Safety Department official, who says the state would save $2 to $3 million annually by merging the patrols.

But legislative staff say the bill's cost savings are unknown.

From the state Capitol, I'm Theo Keith, Newsradio 1120 KMOX

Intro:	Missouri's Public Safety Department says merging the state Water and Highway patrols will help both agencies and save the state money, but the plan is in rough waters anyway.
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Wrap: Public Safety deputy director Andrea Spillars says the state needs to use Water patrollers more efficiently.

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Description: "Wintertime is their downtime, where we're not using them as efficiently as we could. And in the summertime, they're stretched so thin, that sometimes we don't have enough officers."

Spillars says Gov. Nixon's plan puts water patrollers on highways in the winter.

Troopers would help out on Missouri's waterways in peak summer months.

A former Water Patrol commissioner says that's dangerous, and extra training takes time and money Missouri doesn't have.

The House's top public safety committee chair says the committee will drop anchor on the bill if lawmakers don't get answers to the plan's unknowns.

From the state Capitol, I'm Theo Keith, Newsradio 1120 KMOX.