Lawmakers gird themselves for today's veto session

When the Missouri General Assembly gathers in Jefferson City today for a veto session, lawmakers plan to override 50 line items vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon in the fiscal year 2015 budget.

In a Tuesday conference call with reporters, House Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stream, R-Kirkwood, and Senate Appropriations Chairman Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, said overriding the item vetoes -- which represent $40 million in general revenue spending -- is in the best interest of some of the most vulnerable people in the state.

Of the vetoed money, $160,000 was slated for heart defibrillators for water patrol boats, $1.45 million for rape kits for sexually abused children and $2.5 million for reading instruction for struggling school districts.

In addition to the vetoes, $846 million was withheld by the governor that will be released if revenue improves. Part of those withholdings includes the funding for Cottonwood Residential Treatment Center in Cape Girardeau, which treats mentally ill children. Nixon said at a recent news conference if his vetoes on the budget and a number of sales tax-cutting bills stand after the veto session, he first would unfreeze spending for education, followed by mental-health programs.

If successful veto overrides are mounted, there's still no guarantee those funds will be released because the governor has the power to withhold them. Both legislators said the overrides were important to send a message on behalf of those in need of the programs' services.

"The governor vetoed these lines, he didn't withhold them. He vetoed these lines, almost like a direct affront to the Legislature ..." said Stream. "We want to send a message back that we think these items are extremely important to the people of Missouri."

Schaefer also called Nixon's statements about maintaining fiscal responsibility "political theater." The General Assembly cut $1.3 billion from the budget initially presented by the governor, he said, and set its budget total of $26.4 billion using a more conservative estimate of revenue growth.

The senator also questioned Nixon's own financial decisions, pointing to the $550,000 spent on operating the $6 million plane the governor uses to travel around the state.

When Nixon announced over the summer the $1.1 billion in budget cuts, he cited concern over a number of sales tax-cutting bills he believed would damage the state's economy. Stream and Schaefer called those concerns into question as well. Numbers provided by the lawmakers said fiscal notes from the office of Fiscal Oversight show the governor withheld or vetoed $90.5 million too much to compensate for the tax-cutting measures approved during session.

The lawmakers expect their override efforts will receive bipartisan support at the veto session today.

srinehart@semissourian.com

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