CARNAHAN ASKS FOR BIGGER GOVERNMENT

The governor gave his State of the State address to the General Assembly. Unfortunately, it is business as usual as the governor asked taxpayers for the biggest state government budget ever.

The price tag is a whopping $15.7 billion, nearly one billion dollars higher than the budget just last year. At a time when the state is bringing in more revenues than allowed by law and the discretionary part of the budget is barreling upward, we're being asked to spend it as fast as it comes in.

The state already owes three years of Hancock refund checks to the taxpayers and we know we must cut taxes to get under the legal limit.

The governor did not once mention when the Department of Revenue will be issuing our refund checks in his State of the State address.

This is not fair to the taxpayers! We have known for more than two years about the refunds and how much is due. A taxpayer would be penalized if he or she were even one day late. Taxpayers bear the burden of this government and tax refunds are due immediately!

By far, the largest portion of state revenue comes from individual income tax estimated to generate more than $3.6 billion next year. Instead of providing meaningful tax relief to Missouri's working families, Gov. Carnahan has found a way to spend every dime.

More than 38 percent of the state's budget will be spent on new or expanded social programs. This is by far the largest portion of spending in the budget.

Following President Clinton's lead, Gov. Carnahan proposed that government should have a bigger role in children's lives.

Again, instead of reducing the tax burden on our working families, allowing them to keep more of what they earn, Carnahan is proposing spending the money on state-run programs.

Further, to ensure government control, the Department of Health would receive almost $1.2 million to parcel out for training government employees in those programs.

This money will be available to workers who work in state-approved centers. This approach is aimed at ensuring "quality" child care. However, a parent's definition of "quality" and the governor's definition of "quality" are usually very different.

There are no tax benefits for those families who forego a second income with one parent staying home to raise their own children. There are no benefits for those families who's children are cared for by a grandparent, aunt, or cousin. This kind of social engineering discriminates against those kinds of families.

This is just simply wrong! In an era when taxpayers have been crying for big government to be reduced, to end more than 30 years of a failed welfare system, and get government out of our everyday lives, this year's budget seeks not only to continue that direction but to expand government intrusion, taxing and spending on social programs.

When Gov. Carnahan was asked by a reporter today about returning more money to taxpayers, he retorted that he does return the tax money through spending it on government programs.

I have endorsed and co-sponsored several meaningful tax cuts and hope this year's taxpayer will get some much needed tax relief in spite of the governor's address.