Lawmakers Discuss New Plane

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Missouri lawmakers are continuing to press members of Gov. Jay Nixon’s administration about why it was necessary to buy a new $5.6 million state airplane.A House appropriations committee on Wednesday questioned Nixon’s chief of staff, John Watson, about his knowledge of the plane’s purchase by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. And a Senate government oversight committee questioned the head of the Highway Patrol about the deal.Patrol Superintendent Col. Ronald Replogle said the agency had the money to buy the plane in December because it has taken longer than expected to purchase a new fleet of police cars.Watson said the plane’s purchase did not come as a surprise to him – although it did to some legislators.Nixon has used the new plane on his recent travels.