MISSOURI PUTS MOST MONEY INTO SOCIAL SERVICES

With a growing number of social-service programs and a burgeoning state budget brought on in part by those programs, the fact that spending for social services now exceeds spending for education shouldn't surprise many Missourians.

A recent analysis of Missouri's fiscal year 1999 spending showed social services accounted for 32.2 percent of all non-capital spending by the state.

By climbing to that level, social-service spending topped that for elementary and secondary education, which in fiscal year 1988 captured the state's top-spending category at 31 percent of all non-capital spending.

But Missouri government spending overall grew phenomenally through the 1990s.

Over the 12 years from fiscal 1988 to fiscal 1999, expenditures by state government, including capital improvements, grew from $6.6 billion in fiscal 1988 to $15.4 billion in fiscal 1999, a whopping 133.9 percent increase.

Spending by executive branches and the courts increased even more significantly over the period.

Excluding capital spending, expenditures for 16 executive departments, the state judicial branch and courts, and the 197-member General Assembly and its staffs, increased from $5.8 billion to $14.2 billion over the 12 years. That is a 147.8 percent increase from fiscal 1988 to fiscal 1999.

The analysis further showed that nearly 80 percent of Missouri's revenue is allocated to just five departments: social services, elementary and secondary education, revenue, higher education and the Office of Administration.

One can argue that some elementary and secondary education programs spill over into the social-services category, which they do.

But the fact that social-service operational spending through the 12-year period jumped 262.1 percent -- third highest only behind the departments of insurance and transportation -- shows the high priority state government puts on social services.

If more emphasis were put on educational spending, it follows that the state's social-services spending could be reduced significantly. Education, after all, is the best way to reduce the number of people being cared for by the state.