BUSINESS BUILDING INCLUSION GOOD NEWS

The good news this week is that Gov. Carnahan included in his budget proposal the full requested amount of $12.681 million for a new business building for Southeast Missouri State University. We didn't make the Governor's budget last year, and so were playing catch-up all session in trying to get this item approved.

A cautionary note: This amount, like all other Higher Ed capital improvements the Governor is proposing statewide, is to be funded through a $250 million bond issue. Approval for the state's General Obligation bonds will need to come not only from state legislators, but also from a vote of the people this fall, assuming the legislature approves them this session.

Arguments in favor of bonding to accomplish these improvements include: the greatness of the need; the indisputable fact that interest rates are at historic lows, making the issuance of debt rather more attractive because easier to service; and the claim that "Missouri is historically (and currently) a low-debt state."

Arguments against include the allegation that bonding is no way to conduct business; that with $2 billion in debt obligations already, the state has plenty of long-term debt, with $900 million +/- added in the last 12 years; and the claim that future generations and state revenue streams should not be so burdened.

That is to say, as with so many questions we must deal with in Jefferson City, there are good and bad points on both sides. Throw in a video lottery proposal, and the pending high court challenge to Missouri's riverboat gambling law, and there are plenty of wildcards in this deck.

Your guess is as good as mine as to whether Missourians are in any mood to approve more long-term debt for the state. My own forecast is that the bonds will probably get through the legislature this session, but I am skeptical as to whether voters statewide will buy into them.

We shall see. What do you think? Let me hear from you.

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Way to Go, Mary Harriet!

The January 1994 issue of the Missouri Historical Review, published by the Historical Society of Missouri, contains a delightful historical treatment of the conception, financing and construction of our Mississippi River Bridge. Entitled "The Bridge That Spanned The Great Depression", this highly informative, footnoted, 12-page article was written by local resident Mary Harriet Talbut, daughter of Judge Marybelle Mueller and the late Paul Mueller.

Mary Harriet has performed a major service in compiling the work necessary to get this article researched, written and published to the exacting standards of the Review. Included are pictures of the bridge under construction and of such notable business and civic leaders as the late Charles L. Harrison; Southeast Missourian publisher the late Fred Naeter; and the late Mr. Fred A. Groves, the last a grand old man I was privileged to know. Among those interviewed and quoted by the author were local highway engineer George Penzel, an authority on the history of roads and transportation in our region.

I was aware that with the coming of the Depression, bridge revenue was inadequate to service the debt, triggering default and big losses for the bondholders. But I was unaware of the direct involvement of President Calvin Coolidge, who "marveled at the fact that no bridge spanned the Mississippi River for nearly 400 miles between St. Louis and Memphis." (Page 179, quoting the Southeast Missourian, 12 April 1926.)

If you do not subscribe to the Missouri Historical Society's excellent Review, take the time to go to the library and read it. It is fine pleasure reading, will make an excellent study for school children and can serve as an important reminder of the importance of teaching history. You'll be reminded of the adage that "there is literally nothing new under the sun." Example: The article describes the indifference of the State of Illinois to construction of a bridge at a location so lacking in population as extreme southern Illinois. Most all the push came from the Missouri side. Sound familiar? We're going through the same thing now, as Illinois officials seem indifferent to whether our new bridge gets built or not.

The French have a saying, "Plus ca change, plus la meme choses." Rough translation: The more things change, the more they stay the same.