By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

Missouri has a new governor and its economic forecast is radically altered, but watchers of state government can still count on Rep. Cynthia Davis to come out with an eye-raising idea.

Davis, a Republican from O'Fallon, Mo., has in the past opposed state-subsidized birth control for low-income women, calling it a free pass for men who seek sex without commitment.

She has publicly compared liberals to terrorists and proposed a bill that would require schools to teach alternatives to the theory of evolution.

Her proposal this year is mild by comparison, but still unusual. Davis, along with fellow Republican Ed Emery, is sponsoring a bill that would give stay-at-home moms $600 in scholarship money per year.

Recipients would have children younger than 15 and could not earn more than $1,000. They wouldn't be required to use the "scholarship" money for education, though Davis predicts many will.

A mother who stays at home and "watches soap operas and eats bonbons all day" might be prompted to better herself through the scholarship program, Davis said in a hearing, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. But other moms would be persuaded to stay home and keep their children out of day care, she offered.

And dads, lest you get your hopes up, Davis's bill would benefit mothers only. They are the "built-in nurturers," she said.