Have lawmakers lost their minds? Missouri Republicans propose $2 million social program.
Barb ShellyMissouri legislator Ryan Silvey, the Republican House budget chairman from Kansas City’s Northland, has created a funny sign to post outside his office door.
It advises:
Please ask yourself the following: 1. Am I here to ask the Chairman for more money than last year? (If yes, proceed to question 2) 2. Have you lost your mind?
Clever, yes?
Perhaps too clever.
One of the first bills out of the chute would require the state to screen welfare recipients and applicants for illegal drugs if caseworkers have “reasonable suspicion” to think the applicant is using them.
We’ll skip over the legal complications that may come from singling some people out for drug tests, and move right to the fiscal implications. Sponsors of the legislation say the bill would cost the state about $2 million a year; others think it would cost more.
But either way, that’s at least $2 million more in spending than last year. Under Silvey’s guidelines that won’t fly. But it’s a big priority for Silvey’s fellow Republicans, including House Speaker Steve Tilley.
The House is schedules to debate the bill this week. A great scenario has Silvey rising to his feet and asking the bill’s sponsors: “Have you lost your minds?”
Probably won’t happen. But perhaps, like last year, opponents could succeed in attaching an amendment requiring that legislators be drug-tested as well. The bill died in the Senate last year.
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