Missouri cuts affecting programs

KENNETT, Mo. -- The next time you seek to avail yourself of some service offered by the state of Missouri, perhaps you would be well-advised to make certain that service still exists.

In the months ahead, Jefferson City will be challenged in its attempts to maintain current programs and provide them to a growing population trying to make ends meet in a downward national economy.

Even if you're a citizen who barely keeps abreast of the most startling local and national news, you are undoubtedly know that the system of government that most directly affects our everyday lives, not to mention our future, is in the red, can't seem to get out of the red, and can only predict more red ink next year and even the year after that.

In other words, the people who barely mentioned any of this while they were asking for your vote last November don't have much more than a glimmer of a clue as to how they're going to provide you and your family and your fellow citizens even the basic needs that have been a part of the state's delivery system for years, oftentimes decades.

If these disturbing facts have already alarmed you to the point of warning the family breadwinner that the cookie jar money is lower than it's been since the early 1990s, by now you have probably calculated what our once-eager legislative candidates are beginning to face now that they're safely sworn into office and have come face to face with reality.

And that reality is: Missouri currently does not have sufficient revenue on hand -- nor waiting in the money pipeline -- to fund fully the programs that are scheduled to be offered between now and June 30, nor does it have sufficient income on the horizon to finance fully the programs that will be recommended by Gov. Bob Holden this month for the fiscal year that will get under way July 1.

If I did the math right, that's some 18 months with inadequate revenue to finance existing programs, with nothing included that would deal with the million and one expediencies that always creep into the best-laid plans of man.

I wish it were possible for some of the energy now being devoted to financial-shortage hand-wringing in our state Capitol, and the numerous lobbyists' offices that surround it, could be harnessed toward finding moneymaking solutions for Missourians. But it can't be for a very real -- one could even say logical -- reason: Various political, civic, business and professional organizations depend on the largesse they are able to pry from the scores of state office buildings that have proliferated throughout Jefferson City over the past half-century.

After all, when it comes to a $19 billion spending budget, what do a few million dollars spent here and there really matter?

Missourians have begun to get some answers back on that question, particularly as more and more officeholders, both veteran and novice, realize they face an awesome exercise in bringing their fiscal responsibilities back to a balanced reality.

More importantly, Missourians who are the recipients of literally hundreds of state programs and services have also begun to notice the changed fiscal climate in the Show Me State.

If you are a Medicaid recipient, notice has been served on you to tighten your belt and not expect anything but the minimum in health care regardless of your physical condition.

If you are a state college or university student, you've probably noticed the closed offices in most of the departments on campus, reflecting the tighter fiscal fist of Jefferson City.

If you're the parent of a mentally retarded child, you have no doubt been faced with a decision about where your child will spend the rest of his or her life and whether the required care and attention will be provided.

If you're a mental patient, the chances are quite high that you have been dismissed ahead of the date of your psychiatrist mentioned at the time of your admission.

If you're a public school official, you are faced with demands from underpaid teachers accumulated on top of the realization that the once-promised state assistance will not be forthcoming for programs that have long been held necessary for you to carry out your responsibilities to the children of your community.

If you're a retailer in the state, by now it must seem obvious that the states' failure to collect sales taxes on the goods and merchandise bought on the Internet has already eaten into your narrow profit margins -- and will certainly affect it even more as the practice gains adherents, even state university faculty members.

If you are a daily commuter to work, you already know that improvements of the roads and highways that provide you with plenty of chills and thrills will be around probably longer than you will so you take for granted the hundreds of extra dollars you will spend on car repairs and new tires.

If you are a member of the healing-arts community, no doubt you have been shocked by the lowered treatment payments for tending to the medical, dental and psychiatric needs of your patients.

But if you believe these are the last cutbacks the state will have to make, then how about some stock in Enron?

The list goes on and on.

The problem is that the list will grow exponentially as the governor, the legislature and the special-interest lobbyists try to reach some agreement on how Missouri's state services can be restored with plans that will not ignite a lynch mob surrounding the capital city. Let us not forget the terrifying burdens placed on uneasy public officials who earlier begged for our votes and support with a seemingly sincere promise and pledge to tackle the difficult problems of the future.

Well, officeholders, here are the problems no one could have predicted and dilemmas that are difficult to resolve. It's time to deliver on your campaign promises.

Jack Stapleton is the editor of Missouri News & Editorial Service.