HANCOCK CALLS CARNAHAN'S TACTICS HITLER-LIKE

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan intentionally violated the state constitution by refusing to submit Senate Bill 380 to the voters last year, U.S. Rep. Mel Hancock charged Friday.

Hancock and the governor are in a war of words over Hancock II or Constitutional Amendment 7.

The Nov. 8 ballot measure, authored by Hancock, would require voter approval to enact tax increases.

On Thursday, Carnahan told a gathering of newspaper editors Hancock was attempting to punish the state over the 1993 passage of Senate Bill 380, the sweeping education reform and tax increase package without putting it before the voters.

On Friday, Hancock said the issue isn't punishment.

"This is a clash between voters' rights to vote on tax increases and the fact that he promised them the right to vote on more money for schools and then didn't let them do it."

The congressman said he and other supporters of Hancock II want the governor to keep his promises.

The goal of Hancock II, he said, is to put tax issues in the hands of voters rather than in the hands of bureaucrats and politicians.

Hancock decried what he views as scare tactics by Carnahan and other government officials opposing Hancock II.

He disputes estimates his amendment could mean state budget cuts of $1 billion.

He prefers to rely on the analysis of the Cato Institute, a conservative Washington think-tank that estimated Hancock cuts at $134 million.

State officials have said Hancock II could force the layoff of many state workers. But Hancock said that is just part of the scare tactics being used.

"These are Third World dictatorship techniques," Hancock said. "These are the kinds of propaganda that Hitler used to take over Germany."

State agencies have said their budgets will be cut drastically should voters approve Hancock II.

On Tuesday, officials from a number of local and state agencies will discuss the financial impact of Hancock II at a public forum at 7 p.m. at the Show Me Center.

Neither Hancock nor a Hancock II supporter was invited to speak at the forum.

Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast Missouri State University, said the forum is structured as "an information event." It isn't a debate.

But Wallhausen said Hancock, like any other citizen, is welcome to attend the forum and ask questions.

Scheduled to appear at the forum: Charles McClain, commissioner of higher education; Robert Bartman, the state's commissioner of education; Al Spradling III, Cape Girardeau mayor; John Oliver, highway commissioner; Don Schriro, corrections director; and Jim Moody, former commissioner of administration."

Brief presentations will also be made by Southeast Missouri State University President Kala Stroup, local school superintendents, Highway Patrol spokesman Brent Davis and bond attorney Mark Grimm.