Missouri budget headed in right direction

The new Republican majority in the Missouri House of Representatives has taken action that verges on making budget-writing history. But final legislative action may wind up looking more like a traditional line-item budget before it is sent to Gov. Bob Holden.

The usual process for the state's budget is for the governor to propose a budget in January, followed by adjustments in the House and Senate and passage of a compromise plan that winds up where it started: on the governor's desk.

This year's process is shaped by a $1 billion gap between spending requests and anticipated revenue. In his budget message, Holden proposed several tax increases to generate more revenue, but there are no signs that legislators -- Republicans or Democrats -- are eager to go that route. So the other option is to cut spending. To balance the budget, this will mean drastic cuts in many areas.

Under the best circumstances, the heads of state departments would be eager to negotiate with legislators in an effort to get the most money for the programs they consider to be essential. But department heads in the Holden administration have been instructed by the governor not to cooperate with legislators on identifying which areas to cut.

Budget making requires an orderly process in order to meet legislative deadlines to pay for operations during the fiscal year that starts July 1. The House, faced with this week's deadline for moving budget legislation to the Senate, has taken the interesting approach of designating lump sumps for the various departments rather than identifying funding for specific programs within those departments.

This has never been done by any state legislature. And it appears the Senate will take the more traditional line-item approach during its deliberations.

The House's lump-sum plan has merit on two counts: First, it gets past the obstacle of departmental defiance against any spending cuts, and, second, it prevents a stalling of the legislative budgeting process -- a delaying tactic that could prove disastrous at a time when serious and deliberate decisions must be made to hold spending at levels the state can afford.

Republican leaders in the Senate have made it clear they don't want to give unelected bureaucrats free rein to spend taxpayers' money as they choose.

In addition, the governor should be more concerned about his line-item veto authority than about philosophical differences with Republican legislators regarding the budget. If by some chance Missouri became the first state ever to hand over appropriations to state departments without designating how to spend the money, the governor would have no way to make cuts except by overall withholdings.

While there may be some curious zigzags as legislators grind through the budget process, two things are clear: General tax increases that would require a vote of the people aren't even on the radar this year, and balancing the budget will mean returning to the spending levels of fiscal year 2001. In both instances, the legislature is headed in the right direction.