REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS CRITICAL OF CARNAHAN

Three Republicans during a six-city tour Monday criticized the way Gov. Mel Carnahan has handled three crucial items of legislation.

State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, the Senate minority caucus chairman, spoke about the nature of tax refunds announced by Carnahan 10 days ago; state Rep. Zane Yates, R-Oakville, assistant minority leader, spoke about Missouri desegregation; and state Sen. Steve Ehlmann, R-St. Charles, assistant minority leader of the Senate, talked about his concern for a racial disparity clause in the juvenile crime bill.

The tour concluded at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

"The reason for this tour is to make an effort to get another message that the people don't always hear when we're busy working on legislation in Jefferson City," said Kinder.

Kinder said Missourians who are happy to get a tax refund should consider that the tax provision of Senate Bill 380 took too much money out of the pockets of citizens to begin with.

"Missourians are expected to be happy or grateful to the governor for giving them money back," he said. "They should, in fact, be furious that they were so overtaxed that the government was able to keep their money -- interest free -- for over a year just to turn around and give it back to them."

Chris Sifford, a spokesman for Carnahan's office, said the tax was within the lid allowed by the Hancock Amendment. He said the refund merely reflects the health of the state's economy, which has improved since Senate Bill 380 was passed in 1993.

"State Auditor Margaret Kelly cautioned us all that this increase could cause the Hancock Amendment to kick in," said Kinder. "All of our warnings and Kelly's warnings were swept aside in the rush to push this bill through."

Kinder said if the tax was truly within the lid set up by the Hancock Amendment there would be reason for a refund.

"In reality the reasons are either that personal income did not keep pace with the growth of state revenue or they taxed us too much," said Kinder. "It is axiomatic that there could be no refunds unless the authorities taxed us too much in the first place."

Yates said Carnahan has largely ignored school desegregation until recently, when he decided to affirm the position of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Yates said there have been bills introduced to restructure the desegregation program that would have saved the state $35 million per year but were ignored by Carnahan.

Sifford said Carnahan has already saved the state $22.5 million.

Yates said the money saved came by way of capital improvement cuts that lessen the quality of education for every student rather than lighten the financial process of desegregation.

Yates said, "As elected officials, we have a responsibility to address the court's concerns about ensuring a quality education for our children, and we must also look for ways to cut out waste in the system."

Yates said Carnahan has "handcuffed" that endeavor by continuing to negotiate with cities, thereby lengthening the process at a price that is too high for taxpayers.

Ehlmann likened the racial disparity clause in the juvenile crime bill to the system designed to prevent racial discrimination in the job market.

"What it will probably do is set up informal quotas," he said. " Judges will be afraid that through the appeal process their decision to certify a juvenile will be overturned at a later date if they don't abide by some kind of informal quota."

Ehlmann said there was no serious debate on the racial disparity clause, and that is why it passed so easily as an amendment to the juvenile crime bill.

"For the first time in our state's history judges are directed to consider race as a factor when determining whether or not to try a juvenile offender as an adult. This is a huge step backwards for our state and a personal embarrassment when you stop and think that we are looking at the color of a person's skin rather than just their character and the crime they are accused of committing."