Missouri wants its share of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.  Don’t we all?  So a panel advising Governor Jay Nixon advises that the state should get a temporary lobbyist to help.

For years, Missouri had a federal lobbyist based in Washington.

But the position was eliminated near the end of Gov. Bob Holden’s administration because state legislators felt the state should already have 11 lobbyists — the nine U.S. House members and two senators.