Legislature continues work on budget

By State Rep. David Klindt

The House of Representatives passed the 12 Appropriations bills which fund the general operation of state government before leaving for Spring Break. The Senate is now working on those bills. There are still a couple of Appropriations bills in the House to fund capital improvement projects and to pay for the leasing of buildings used by the state. This week the Budget Committee passed HB 1120, which is one of the remaining budget bills which the House must pass and send to the Senate for action.

HB 1120 spends over $158.7 million on numerous building projects on state college and vocational technical school campuses. Over $149.4 million of this funding is State General Revenue money. However, many of these projects may not actually receive funding in this budget year even if this bill passes and is signed by the Governor, because at least $66 million of the $149.4 million may ultimately have to be refunded to taxpayers in Hancock Refunds.

In November 1999, another lawsuit was filed contesting the way the Governor interpreted a Supreme Court ruling on a previous Hancock lawsuit brought by the Conservation Federation of Missouri saying that the one-eighth cent conservation sales tax should not be included when the state calculates Hancock Refunds. The Supreme Court agreed with the Conservation Federation, which had the effect of increasing the amount of refunds the state owes taxpayers. However, the Governor’s Office found “ambiguity” in the Court’s opinion and actually reduced the amount of refunds which resulted in the state keeping approximately $66 million which the Governor’s Office is spending on the building projects in HB 1120.

As a result of the Governor’s interpretation of the Court’s ruling, another lawsuit was filed and is currently pending. If the Court rules in favor of taxpayers and says that the money must be refunded, the money will have to be pulled back out of the funding for the building projects in HB 1120.

The Governor’s Office is aware of this possibility and they included a sentence in this year’s budget which says, “Litigation currently under way regarding the total state revenue refunds owed under Article X of the Missouri Constitution could delay, reduce, or eliminate the availability of funds for capital improvement projects.”

These colleges, the students and the taxpayers of Missouri need to understand that this additional funding for these projects may never materialize. The better approach would have been to hold in an escrow account the $66 million which is in dispute and may have to be refunded to taxpayers. Unfortunately, the Governor decided to include spending this money in his last budget.