CARNAHAN, EDGAR GET BAD GRADES

The governors of Missouri and Illinois belong to different parties. But both get low grades from a conservative Washington think tank for not cutting taxes.

Both Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, a Democrat, and Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, a Republican, received grades of D.

Edgar came into office in 1991 and Carnahan in 1993.

The Cato Institute compared the budget and tax records of 46 governors.

The governors of Arkansas, Kentucky and Louisiana weren't included because they have been in office for less than a year. Alaska's governor wasn't graded because that state depends mostly on revenue from natural resources to pay for government services.

Edgar and Carnahan were among seven governors who received a grade of D. The others were the governors of Montana, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Maryland, and the state of Washington.

The governors of Ohio, Florida, Delaware and West Virginia received failing grades.

The governors of New York, New Hampshire and Arizona received top marks for cutting taxes.

Spokesmen for both Edgar and Carnahan dismissed the report.

"If teachers played as fast and loose with the facts in giving grades to students, they would have been fired," said Mike Lawrence, Edgar's press secretary.

"Any politician would love to cut taxes, but the point is you have to be fiscally responsible and you have to be governmentally responsible," said Lawrence.

He said the Cato Institute doesn't like moderate Republicans like Edgar.

Chris Sifford, Carnahan's communications director, said the Cato Institute's analysis isn't credible.

"We have a state budget that is always balanced," Sifford said Thursday. "We are fiscally very conservative in Missouri."

Missouri is one of five states that has a Triple A bond rating, he pointed out.

But Stephen Moore, Cato's director of fiscal policy studies, said: "The fact is that Carnahan and Edgar have been very pro-tax governors. That is essentially why they got such poor rankings."

The Cato Institute compares the fiscal records of the nation's governors every two years.

Moore said most governors are cutting taxes and spending.

Twenty-one states cut taxes last year and 27 governors have recommended lower taxes in their latest budgets, Moore said.

Since 1994, many states have held spending growth at or below the rate of inflation.

"Illinois is a low-tax-and-spend state relative to personal income, but in real terms the state now spends roughly $700 more per family than in 1991," the Cato Institute reported.

"Edgar's overall fiscal record is mediocre at best," the institute said.

Carnahan is accused of expanding state government and endorsing the largest tax increase in Missouri history in 1993.

The institute said both the corporate income tax and the gasoline tax were raised.

"Since 1993, total state expenditures have grown faster than they have in all but a handful of states and almost 3 percent faster than personal income in the state," the report said.

But Sifford said the Cato report is inaccurate.

Sifford said the gas tax increase occurred under the administration of Republican governor John Ashcroft.

He said Senate Bill 380, the tax increase for education, wasn't the largest tax increase in Missouri history.

Under Ashcroft, a gasoline-tax hike and a hospital-provider tax combined were larger than the $300 million-plus tax hike of Senate Bill 380, Sifford said.

Sifford said the rate of growth in state government has been less under Carnahan than under the Ashcroft administration.

The state operating budget grew by 44 percent in Ashcroft's first term and 39 percent during his second term, Sifford said.

The state budget has grown by 35 percent under the Carnahan administration, he said.

"Two-thirds of that growth is in new federal funds that the state has gotten," Sifford said.

Sifford said Cato opposes spending money on public education.

Lawrence said the Cato Institute is (out of step with most Americans.)