Midwest Voices

Barb Shelly

None

Whew! Deficit watchers can breathe easier this morning. Missouri is turning down an entire $14.5 million in federal funds.

That’s the upshot of the crazy wrinkle in the legislative session caused by four senators who have taken it upon themselves to tackle the fiscal problems of the federal government at the expense of their state and its citizens.

You know who they are: Republicans Rob Schaaf of St. Joseph, Jim Lembke of St. Louis County, Brian Nieves of Washington and Will Kraus of Lee’s Summit. (I mention Kraus last, even though he’s local, because he sometimes seems to be tagging along with the rest of the crowd.)

First they wanted to deny unemployment benefits to the Missourians having the toughest time in the job market. Senate leaders talked them down from that post after weeks of stalling, but indicated they would give up other federal funds in exchange.

One key person who wasn’t in on that deal, however, was Kurt Schaefer, the budget chairman. Schaefer and his committee didn’t see any reason to turn down the federal funds, so they included them in the budget.

The fab four filibustered through the evening and night before reaching an agreement at about 6:30 a.m. today. As Star Jefferson City correspondent Jason Noble explains on Prime Buzz, the senators had wanted $250 million worth of cuts, but settled for the $14.5 million. Those cuts will come from weatherization programs, drug court expansions and information-technology upgrades at government offices.

And when you think about it…how dumb is that? Weatherization helps families and creates jobs. Drug courts keep people out of state prisons and save taxpayers tons of money. Technology upgrades result in more efficient government functions.

Missouri is turning those things down in order to prove…what?

Comments

Sign in with Facebook to comment.