Jeff City steers familiar course - tax and spend

Already in the newborn legislative session that started earlier this month, two Missouri senators and two representatives have concocted major tax increases at the same time Gov. Bob Holden was putting together his State of the State address, delivered this week, that paints a dismal forecast for state budgeting.

Make that five tax increases if you count the governor's own plan to suck more revenue from the pockets of casino gamblers. After all, it seems that an awful lot of politicians consider gambling to be a form of taxation paid voluntarily by willing risk takers who just want to have a little fun on riverboats that barely float, much less travel on any river.

State revenue is growing

It's hardly surprising there are so many plans to raise taxes. If you listen to politicians in Jefferson City, you will soon wonder that the state can stay afloat financially as a result of the dismal revenue projections. But don't listen. The fact is state revenue continued to grow at a healthy rate through the end of 2001 despite the gloom-and-doom forecasts during last year's budget season that left state employees without a pay increase.

Now Holden is telling state workers they won't get a pay raise this year either because of the need to hold the budget line. Never mind that the governor's claim that he is cutting spending to save the state checkbook is smoke and mirrors. As Holden's budget currently stands, he has proposed spending $150 million more in the fiscal year that begins July 1 than will have been spent in the current fiscal year after all the governor-ordered cuts.

Here are the tax increases proposed so far:

Sen. Wayne Goode proposes a temporary increase in the state sales tax and corporate income taxes for two years to raise $225 million a year for schools and pay raises for state employees.

Rep. Jim Kreider, House speaker, proposes an increase in the state sales tax to raise $162 million a year for school construction projects. (Interestingly, Kreider estimates a quarter-cent sales-tax increase will generate $162 million a year, while Goode estimates it will raise $150 million. What's a measly $12 million when you're doing political math?)

Rep. Don Koller wants to increase the fuel tax, state sales tax, vehicle sales tax and alcohol sales tax along with vehicle license and registration fees to raise $850 million a year for transportation. (Eventually, Kreider and Koller hope to merge their plans into one bill.)

Sen. Morris Westfall proposes increases in the state sales tax and fuel tax to raise $436 million a year for transportation.

The governor proposes removing the $500 loss limit at casinos along with raising casino admission fees and casino taxes to generate $177 million for education.

What's missing from all these plans, of course, is the obvious course of action that any Missouri household would consider as a necessary first step: cut spending. Each of the plans, except for those aimed at maintaining full state funding for schools, is intended to raise more money for new spending.

Whatever happened to the commonsense approach of taking stock of how much money you have and basing your spending plans on that? There's not a wage earner (make that taxpayer) in the state who, faced with mounting bills, housing costs, grocery bills, clothing needs and medical statements wouldn't like to be able to tell his or her boss: Hey, I've got too many bills, so you have to give me a big raise.

Needed: Economic stimulus

Clearly, the folks in Jefferson City don't think $19 billion-plus is enough to run state government, even without giving state workers a raise for the second year in a row.

Meanwhile, the state's economy is feeling the same pressures as the nation. But while the governor's office and some legislative leaders think the answer to tough financial times is more taxes, they are blind to the need for economic stimulus. Taxing corporate income and highway-based businesses who pay most of the state's fuel taxes is a slap in the face to businesses who will be expected to contribute to any economic turnaround.

More than ever, Missouri needs leadership that will stop asking for raises from their bosses -- the taxpayers -- without exercising a little self-restraint on spending.