LESS STATE REVENUE, OR TOO MUCH SPENDING

There was a collective sigh of relief last week among a lot of legislators and in the governor's office when the Missouri Supreme Court ruled the state wouldn't have to make more than half a billion dollars in refunds to taxpayers.

That possibility, along with a projected shortfall in revenue of $133 million, has the state in a tight squeeze, according to the folks who legislate taxes and authorize state spending in Jefferson City.

Or does it?

The Department of Revenue, which keeps track of how much money flows into Missouri's coffers from taxes, fees and other sources, reports that the state's general-revenue fund, which pays the bills for most of state government, is up nearly 13 percent in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, which began last July.

That hefty increase seemed to come as something of a surprise to Gov. Bob Holden, who visited with the Southeast Missourian editorial board last Friday.

Holden obviously was pleased with the court decision that took away the threat of more refunds. But he also painted a rather gloomy picture of the state's current financial health, citing less-than-projected revenue figures for state government.

But that's not what the Department of Revenue figures indicate. The 12.76 percent growth in general-revenue fund receipts through January are basically on target with budget forecasts made a year ago.

There's no questionstate spending has been buoyed by several years of economic plumpness. Unfortunately, the sizable annual increases in state budgets have failed to plan for any downturn in the economy. So if there is a budget squeeze, the focus would have to be on spending, not revenue.

A 12.76 percent increase is a healthy income gain, if you put such an increase into perspective. How many taxpaying wage earners have seen their paychecks go up nearly 13 percent in the past year? But because there are more people working in Missouri and paying taxes than ever before, state government will likely continue its big increases in spending plans from year to year.

The governor and legislators are scratching their heads over ways to fund programs affected by the so-called shortfall. Often, programs that are doing the most good are feeling the hatchet rather than state-funded efforts that produce little if any payback. This across-the-board hit isn't fair to government programs that work.

Instead of willy-nilly cutting and looking for ways to spend more, state officials would do well to concentrate on ways to cut unnecessary expenses.