LAWMAKERS: VO-TECH FUNDING REMAINS ALIVE

The Cape Girardeau School District still stands a good chance of securing $3.15 million to fund half the cost of a new vocational-technical school, three area lawmakers said Friday.

Three Republicans -- state Sen. Peter Kinder and state Rep. Mary Kasten, both of Cape Girardeau, and state Rep. Patrick Naeger of Perryville -- spoke to about 100 people Friday at the Show Me Center.

The occasion was the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's monthly First Friday Coffee.

State Rep. David Schwab, R-Jackson, was invited but couldn't attend because he was scheduled to undergo knee surgery.

A House subcommittee has proposed to allocate two-thirds of the $3.15 million for the vo-tech school in fiscal 1998, which begins July 1. The remaining $1 million could be allocated in fiscal 1999, the lawmakers said.

"The project is still very much alive," Kinder said.

Even if the House approves the subcommittee's funding proposal, the Senate could vote to allocate the entire amount requested by the school district, Kinder said.

"On the Senate side, I will be supporting the full amount," he said.

If the Senate and House pass different funding bills, lawmakers would have to iron out the differences before final passage, Kinder said.

The House has passed a bill to cut 3 cents from the state sales tax on food. Kinder predicted the Senate will pass a tax-cut measure too.

The Senate might add a provision to raise the income-tax dependent exemption from $400 to $1,200, Kinder said.

Lawmakers must approve some type of tax cut because state revenue currently exceeds the Hancock Amendment's constitutional limits, he explained. Missourians are owed refunds, Kinder said.

All three lawmakers said managed care will be a major issue in the General Assembly this session.

Naeger, who operates a health-care business in Perryville, said managed care has been largely unregulated in Missouri.

"Our phone bills and electric bills are more regulated than managed-care organizations," he said. "We don't want government running things," Naeger said.

"We have to take a common-sense approach," he said.

Naeger said some health-insurance companies have put pressure on employers to discourage employees from taking their children to the hospital when they run a fever or break a bone. Insurance companies want workers to take their sick children to their regular doctors rather than seek help in hospital emergency rooms, Naeger said.

Kasten said consumer needs must be balanced against those of the health-care industry. "I do think we need to tweak the system," said Kasten. "We certainly don't need to trash it."

Kinder said the legislature should first "do no harm" before it enacts a massive managed-care bill.

He said the current bill is broadly worded and could give the Missouri Insurance Department a state version of President Clinton's health-care bill.

Kinder said lawmakers will address school desegregation funding when they return to work March 17 after a weeklong spring break.