Republicans Push for Full K-12 Funding

March 8, 2010

Gov. Jay Nixon’s proposed budget shortchanged public schools by $87 million in additional revenue they’re legally supposed to get through a phased-in increase in basic operating money.
The Republican-written House Budget Committee plan fills in that gap by making the same amount of cuts in other parts of the state’s $8.43 billion general revenue budget.
But with tax revenue lagging behind the recession-battered economy, will the proposed boost in school funding become a reality?
"Well, it’s in the bills," said House Budget Chairman Allen Icet, R-Wildwood. "How does it survive the light of day until they land on the governor’s desk? I don’t know. It’s a process. People have different priorities and we’ll see where it goes."
In 2005, legislators passed a law implementing a formula to phase in increases in school funding no matter how dire the state’s finances may get.
Rep. Sara Lampe, who has been the House’s loudest advocate for more education funding, said the GOP plan comes at the expense of other programs. "There’s all kinds of line items that have been cut to fully fund the (foundation) formula," said Lampe, D-Springfield. "They actually robbed areas like Parents as Teachers in order to do that."
The General Assembly adjourned Thursday for a weeklong spring b reak. When lawmakers return, the last nine weeks of session will likely be dominated by budget issues, said House Speaker Ron Richard, R-Joplin.
One problem facing budget writers is the volatile tax revenue for the 2011 fiscal year, which runs from July to June 2011. Nixon had budgeted for a 3.7 percent growth in tax collections, but warned this week that the revenue estimate needs to be a revised.
The House Republican plan would reduce Nixon’s budget proposal by $139 million. But after spending more money on education and other programs, the cuts amount to $50 million less than Nixon’s proposal.

Nixon’s budget relies on Congress appropriating another $300 million to Missouri as a six-month extension in 2011 of increased Medicaid payments through the federal stimulus program.

Icet’s budget uses the $300 million by supplementing it for prisoner medical care and the state’s Medicaid program. Nixon’s budget also funds those programs, but with general revenue, not the one-time stimulus money.
If the money falls through, Nixon would have cut the state budget elsewhere to save those programs.
Icet denied he’s trying to box the governor into a corner.
Nixon met with legislative leaders this week to discuss lowering the projected revenue estimate for next year, given an unanticipated double-digit drop in tax revenue in January and February. Tax revenue is down 12.7 percent since July, according to the Office of Administration.
"We clearly have a long way to go (on this budget)," said Nixon spokesman Jack Cardetti. Since revenue projections are not coming in at the level the House, Senate and administration estimated, further spending reductions will be necessary, he said.
House Bill 2002, which funds K-12 education, also would keep the $36 million Career Program intact wi th no cuts. Career Ladder provides teachers with supplemental pay for taking on additional after-school duties, such as tutoring.
The House budget plan slashes the remaining $259,000 for the Missouri Fine Arts Academy at Missouri State University and Missouri Scholars Academy at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
After having their annual funding slashed from $710,000 annually to $259,000 last year, the two academies for high-achieving students have begun charging tuition to students who can afford it. The remaining money mostly goes to scholarships for students without the means to pay, said Julie Bloodworth, director of the Missouri Fine Arts Academy.
"We understand that the state has to make hard fiscal decisions," she said. "We hope that the state will listen to us when we say we need a minimum of support … to offer scholarships to the students who cannot afford to attend the academies themselves."

Icet and the House appropriations subcommittees made about $80 million in across-the-board cuts to the governor’s budget for state agencies.

Another $48 million cut is really a savings from the federal government not requiring the state to pay it back for a prescription drug program for seniors.
Budget writers also reduced college scholarships by $4 million and the children’s health insurance program by $7 million because the program had lapsed funds from the prior year.
The scholarship cuts come from a $13 million reduction in the Access Missouri program, $9 million of which was transferred to the Bright Flight program for top-performing students, leaving an overall reduction in college scholarships of $4 million, according to a budget summary.
The proposal also reduces salary and core expenses by 5 percent for the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, secre tary of state, auditor and treasurer. Budget writers slashed 7.5 percent from Attorney General Chris Koster’s budget.
Budget writers added $1.2 million to the General Assembly’s budget to pay for publishing the state statute books, which is required by law every 10 years.
Lawmakers kept their salaries and core expenses mostly intact, cutting out just $25,000 for free coffee served in the Capitol to legislators, lobbyists, reporters and the general public.
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, pushed for the coffee budget cut in an appropriations subcommittee. "I think people will adjust and find another way to get coffee," he said.