GOVERNOR SAYS $1 MILLION FOR CAREER CENTER STILL POSSIBLE

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden held out the possibility Friday that long-withheld state funds for the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center -- money the school district has already spent -- could be released in the coming weeks.

Lawmakers last year approved $1 million for the new school, which was completed in March, but the appropriation expires June 30 with the end of the fiscal year. That money and funding for other construction projects around the state has been withheld for a variety of reasons, the latest being an expected shortfall of $50 million to $100 million for the current budget year.

Holden said he is aware of the financial bind the district is in because of the delay, but had no timetable for a final decision.

"We're reviewing it daily and getting new information daily," Holden said. "We'll try to make decisions as quick as we can, because I understand the situation they're in. But we've got to make sure we've got the revenue here to cover those expenses."

Holden made his comments during a news conference on the Legislature's passage of a $19 billion state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The Cape Girardeau School District had been counting on a total contribution of $1.8 million from the state for the project and has been forced to use its budget reserves and freeze non-essential spending to cover the state's share.

Included in the state's new operating budget is $832,000 for the school, which should somewhat ease the district's financial uncertainties.

"Without these funds, the Cape Girardeau School District face the very serious possibility of dropping into a financially stressed district," said state Rep. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau.

However, the initial $1 million remains in limbo. If this year's appropriation expires without the district getting the money, it could still get it at some point down the road. The funds were reappropriated in the biennial capital improvements budget bill for fiscal years 2002 and 2003.

Other Southeast Missouri projects in limbo for the past year made it into the reappropriations measure. Those included $11.95 million for Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus, $150,000 for the university's Kennett Learning Center and $750,000 for a vocational school in Poplar Bluff. Four area port authorities that were to get a combined $4.4 million this year were left out of the bill.