IT ISN'T THAT HARD TO CONTROL STATE SPENDING

Exactly how Missouri government got itself into a budget hole continues to be something of a mystery in Jefferson City, but there are contributing factors that are pretty plain.

For one thing, the refund checks issued to elderly Missourians for prescription expenses cost far more ($80 million instead of $20 million) than anticipated. And the cost of the state's foster-care program also zoomed far above projections. Together, these two items contributed enormously to the $136 million shortfall anticipated in the budget for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

These budget anomalies were cited by Republican legislators last week when they proposed some changes in the state budgeting process. Taken together, these changes would permit fewer opportunities to go into the red, the GOP lawmakers said.

Among the proposals was the idea of two-year budgets instead of going through the budget process every year. The Republicans said this would give legislators more time to spend on financial decisions and would make the state less dependent on agencies who request appropriations through the governor's annual budget proposal. Whether or not two-year budgets are better than annual spending plans is a good topic for earnest debate in the state capital, and it could be productive to pursue such a discussion as the current legislative year moves along.

Democrats say the Republican budget ideas aren't new. Nor, they say, would these changes have avoided the current budget mess, which must be cleaned up before the Legislature adjourns in May.

Missouri's constitution prohibits state-government deficits, so legislators somehow must come up with millions of dollars to pay the state's way out of the budget hole. At the same time, these same legislators must find ways to guard against more red ink in the new fiscal year that starts July 1.

Both Republicans and Democrats might start by asking themselves why common sense and run-of-the-mill fiscal prudence played no part in the budget overruns of the prescription-rebate and foster-care programs.

At the end of last year's legislative session, for example, the cost of the prescription plan was estimated to cost $20 million. When checks well in excess of that amount went in the mail, why didn't anyone in the Department of Revenue raise a red flag and put the brakes on the costly reimbursement plan?

Sometimes government officials need laws to keep them in line. But with a little bit of sound reasoning, most any state worker could have avoided this year's fiscal mess.