Increase in funding for autism work cut

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Language earmarking $200,000 to upgrade services for autistic children in Southeast Missouri was pulled from the revised state budget bills the Senate approved Tuesday.

However, state Sen. Bill Foster, R-Poplar Bluff, said he is confident the funding, removed without discussion by the Senate Appropriations Committee on which Foster serves, will be restored by the time the measures are sent to Gov. Bob Holden.

"It was taken out quietly, but it is going back in," Foster said.

During their special session deliberations on four spending bills Holden vetoed, House Majority Floor Leader Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, and other area lawmakers included the funding at the behest of a group of Southeast Missouri parents with autistic children. The language wasn't part of the original budget for the Department of Mental Health the Missouri Legislature approved last month for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The budget bills, which also include spending for education, health and social services, return to the House, which will consider the Senate's changes Monday. Negotiations between the chambers on their differences will follow before the measures can win final legislative approval.

Dr. David Crowe, a Cape Girardeau orthodontist, said he and other area parents of autistic children are pleased with the attention lawmakers have given the issue this year and are hopeful the funding for improved services will make it into the final budget.

"We feel it would be of great benefit to the people of Southeast Missouri," said Crowe, whose 22-year-old son Taylor is autistic.

The Senate passed the bills following less than 2 1/2 hours of debate. Unlike the boisterous scene a week ago in the House when competing groups of Democratic and Republican supporters packed the chamber and loudly protested in the Capitol halls, only a handful of lobbyists and other observers witnessed the Senate's discussions.

Varying numbers of Senate Democrats joined majority Republicans in voting for the bills, with only four of the minority's more liberal members opposing all the measures.

The Senate changes would increase total spending by $73.4 million over the original $19 billion state budget. The House plan would boost spending by $95.4 million.

Among the differences between the proposals is the Senate wants to preserve 538 state social services and health-care jobs the House would cut in order to fund services. The House also favors boosting education funding over the original budget by higher levels than endorsed by the Senate.

Out of balance

Although constantly evolving because of legislative changes and the infusion of federal money, Holden's budget director currently estimates the budget would be $174 million out of balance.

A key goal for the Democratic governor in vetoing the bills and calling a special session was to prompt lawmakers to put a tax increase before voters in order to shore up state revenue.

That effort never gathered much momentum in the Republican-controlled legislature and was dealt another blow Thursday when the Senate Ways and Means Committee took no action on seven bills calling for a variety of tax increases and other revenue-raising efforts. As a result, those measures are stalled.

State Sen. Wayne Goode, D-Normandy, sponsored three bills that would raise a combined $680.8 million through higher taxes on cigarettes, casino operators, wealthy Missourians and other proposals. He supported the Senate's budget plans but expressed concern that revenue will be insufficient to support spending.

However, Goode said it is clear support for new taxes among lawmakers is lacking.

"We'll see what happens, but it is not going to happen in this General Assembly," Goode said.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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