Missouri's attorney general bracing for possible budget suits

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon's office is preparing to defend against a variety of possible lawsuits that could be brought as early as next week over the state budget.

Chief deputy attorney general Karen Mitchell told a Senate committee Thursday that there is a great deal of uncertainty concerning a litany of relevant constitutional and legal questions.

"There is actually no case law on most of the issues we are facing," Mitchell said.

Gov. Bob Holden has twice vetoed the state education budgets for the fiscal year that begins Tuesday.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed spending bills for local public schools and state universities identical to those Holden most recently rejected. The Senate is expected to follow suit today.

The governor continues to refuse to offer any indication of whether he will again veto the measures or sign them into law.

"I will look at all of my options and base my decision on what is best for the long-term interests of children in this state," Holden said Thursday.

The governor, a Democrat, maintains that the nearly $5.6 billion in education funding approved by the Republican-controlled legislature is inadequate. He also claims the overall $19.1 billion state operating budget, including the education portion, is $240 million out of balance.

Legal questions

If the fiscal year begins without education funding in place, the unprecedented situation would generate a host of legal issues.

One question is whether the remaining budget would be valid in the absence of the education component.

The Missouri Constitution requires lawmakers to act on appropriations for the state debt and free public schools before addressing other spending bills. Some interpret that section as requiring actual enactment of those measures for the remaining budget bills to be constitutional.

Mitchell said Nixon believes the constitutional language has been satisfied because the legislature passed the bills in the specified order. However, Mitchell said a lawsuit on that point would be expected.

A related issue concerns another provision that requires at least 25 percent of state funds to be earmarked for elementary and secondary education. If no appropriation is in place for public schools, a court presumably could order spending shifted from other departments to fulfill the constitutional minimum.

Mitchell said challenges could be launched on a variety of other points.

"The list is extremely long on what could happen if the budget, in full or in part, is not in effect next week," Mitchell said.

Nixon, a Democrat, privately met Wednesday with Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, and House Speaker Catherine Hanaway, R-Warson Woods, to discuss the possible legal implications. In addition to the state constitutional questions, Kinder said Nixon identified a number of federal issues could come into play.

If the budget situation isn't resolved by Tuesday, Kinder said some individual or group is certain to initiate a challenge.

"If we don't have an education budget in place, I expect the state to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit that same day," Kinder said.

Following his second round of vetoes, Holden asked lawmakers to approve temporary education spending bills instead of the usual full-year appropriations. The governor said it would give lawmakers time to consider options to increase state revenue.

Holden's suggestion, which some consider unconstitutional, has been ignored. State Sen. John Russell, R-Lebanon, said no one from the governor's office even requested to speak on the temporary spending plan at Thursday's meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which Russell chairs.

Following a brief hearing, the committee voted 9-2 to send the retread education bills to the full chamber.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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