In a recent interview in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Walter Metcalf, chairman of the Bryan Cave law firm in St. Louis and future chairman of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, made an offer to Missouri's legislative leaders -- state Sen. Peter Kinder, president pro tem of the Senate, and state Rep. Catherine Hanaway, speaker of the House -- as well as Gov. Bob Holden.

He volunteered the use of the third-party independent economic forecasters of the Federal Reserve Board in providing information helpful in predicting the revenue for the next fiscal year which begins July 1 but must be budgeted during the session that begins this week.

I certainly would consider this offer of expert help worthy of consideration.

Why not take Metcalf up on his offer, along with revenue projections by Ed Robb, former University of Missouri economic forecaster, or his successor; Jim Moody, credible Missouri government financial analyst; Ray McCarthy, number cruncher for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Gov. Bob Holden's analysts; Senate Appropriations Committee chairman John Russell; and House Budget Committee chairman Carl Bearden? Let's see how they cluster, average them or take your pick.

Then next year we'll publish the predictions and final results and donate $1,000 to the preferred charity of the forecaster closest to the final revenue numbers.

Any better suggestions to get this media game over?

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In its Dec. 31 issue, USA Today had an article headlined "State budgets gain some wiggle room":

"Money will be the top issue again in state legislatures next year. But as state finances improve, lawmakers will tackle many issues that have been ignored during three years of budget problems.

"Thirty-six legislatures begin new sessions in January, and eight more meet by May, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Several others are expected to have special sessions.

"Lawmakers say action on major issues such as tax reform and education financing will be avoided in most states because 2004 is an election year. But smaller issues -- workers' compensation, foster care, pharmaceutical prices, high heating bills -- will get more attention now that states' financial problems have eased.

"State spending rose 4.6 percent in 2002 while revenue increased only 3 percent; that forced states to borrow billions of dollars to balance their budgets. But legislators clamped down in 2003. Spending rose only 1.3 percent in the first nine months of the year while revenue increased 1.5 percent.

"The fiscal restraint is paying dividends. For the first time in three years, most legislatures won't have to plug holes in existing budgets this year. Instead, they will focus on next year's budgets, which take effect July 1 in 46 states. "

* Budgets. State finances remain precarious in some states. California, Illinois and Michigan are among states that still have sever budge problems. But the picture is brighter in other states. A few, including Washington, are even considering big spending increases.

* Tort reform. Efforts to limit damages awards in medical malpractice and other lawsuits have stalled in Congress but remain a priority among Republican legislators in many states. Nine states approved laws in 2003."

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More U.S. women crack glass ceiling: For the first time since tracking began 20 years ago, U.S. women outnumber men in higher paying, white-collar managerial and professional occupations.

The gap will continue because of a self-perpetuating cycle of workplace gains for women, according to international outplacement firm Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

"As a growing number move into upper management roles, those further down the ladder will reap the benefits by increasingly being targeted for advancement," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates that, as of Nov. 30, women represent 50.6 percent of the 48 million employees in management, professional and related occupations.

In 1983, the first year the government began recording gender data for its occupational statistics, women accounted for 40.9 percent of managers and professionals.

"At the computer, women are just as productive as men," said Challenger. "This fact alone has opened up a world of opportunity for women and is bringing an end to outdated concepts like the glass ceiling."

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The secret life of the AFL-CIO: We keep hearing that the AFL-CIO is suffering through a budget crunch, so here's some free cost-cutting (and even labor-saving) advice: It's cheaper to comply with federal disclosure laws than it is to sue to resist them.

The union consortium filed suit recently to block the Labor Department's new rules requiring greater union disclosure. Those new regulations took effect Jan. 1 and will require larger unions to fill out expanded ... disclosure forms -- thereby giving rank-and-file members a chance to see what they get for their mandatory union dues.

AFL-CIO chief John Sweeney has led the posse calling for greater corporate transparency in recent years, yet he and other labor chieftains are working double-time to exempt unions from similar standards. Their lawsuit labels the rules "arbitrary" and "capricious" and demands an injunction.

The irony is that the AFL-CIO is currently under deserved scrutiny for failing to report the presumably millions of dollars it has already spent lobbying Congress in recent years -- as it is required to do under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. Those filings are routine for Washington lobbying outfits, yet the AFL-CIO somehow didn't get around to completing them after 2001. It may be just a coincidence that this is about the same time that the labor group started working over Capitol Hill to block the Bush Administration's disclosure reforms.

In the end, all that resistance was wasted effort because Congress failed to overturn the Bush rules. [Federal legislators] were understandably less than thrilled with the thought of voting to keep union records secret. As for the lobbying oversight, an AFL-CIO lobbyist has blamed this "error" on its legal department; perhaps General Counsel Jonathan Hiatt needs a new set of legal priorities. -- Wall Street Journal

P.S. A judge has given the unions a one-year reprieve for complying with the reporting rules.

--Gary Rust

Chairman of Rust Communications