STATE NEEDS TO MAKE STRONG CASE FOR BONDS

Missouri voters will be asked later this year to approve a $250 million bond issue to pay for prison construction and higher education projects, including one of great significance to Cape Girardeau. Legislators sent the measure to Gov. Mel Carnahan Thursday. It stands to reason that Missourians, who rightfully find no shame in fiscal prudence, will view such a monetary outlay with upfront skepticism and look to be sold on reasons for its passage. While we see the bond issue as having a formidable impact locally, our desire is to see a full explanation of the financial consequences of this measure. Before committing to more debt for Missouri, we, too, would like to be sold.

A few local facts about the Missouri General Assembly's decision to put a bond issue to voters can be laid out in short order. One, the bond issue has money earmarked for construction of a College of Business Administration building at Southeast Missouri State University. Two, the Southeast project is long overdue. Three, the business building is important for the long-term well-being of the university, and hence is important for the community. Four, if the bond issue fails, the project is on hold for at least another year, and with no clear prospect on state funding in the near future. Finally, there is plenty to abhor about raising the state's debt obligations, but when does it become necessary to take the step into more debt for the sake of an ongoing reward?

In the business building, the state, the university and the community encounter sufficient reason to believe there will be a reward. Currently in cramped, separated quarters on campus, the business college boasts one of the most sought-after curriculums at Southeast. In the spring semester, there were 918 declared business majors, representing 12 percent of the student enrollment. The school is on track to become one of the minority of programs to gain accreditation from the American Association of College Schools of Businesses, joining some of the elite schools in the nation with this distinction.

Missing, however, is a hub for these first-rate endeavors. Missing is a focal point for an excellent and improving program, a building that would be a draw for the recruitment of new business students, a building that would supply the tools for top-flight instruction, a building that would help Southeast adequately compete for talent with other universities in the Midwest.

Despite the fact the region's business leaders have contributed their backing to the project, generating $2.4 million in a capital improvements campaign as a local incentive for the building's construction, the legislature has spent recent years turning its back on the project.

We don't discount the fact that the nearly $13 million cost of this building is a substantial sum of money. However, we remain steadfast in our view the new structure is a good buy for the state, an investment in the future of one of Missouri's most resourceful institutions.

Before we throw our support fully behind the legislature's plan, though, we trip on the idea that the election will approach and Missourians will be asked to vote without full knowledge of the measure's repercussions on the state's future finances. In January, this newspaper's inquiries of state officials into Missouri's current indebtedness became a snarled exercise ... few knew, and those who should know weren't anxious to say. The suggestion given in some quarters that Missouri is a "low-debt state" rings in too many cases with mystifying disdain. Why is it bad to keep the public level of debt low? The people at Moody's and Standard and Poors, who reward Missouri with a AAA bond rating, certainly don't take a dim view of a conservative approach to debt.

In short, the bond issue, which also addresses some of the governor's initiatives in fighting crime, can't be counted on to pass as if with some unspoken sanction. Missourians will, and should, demand an accounting. And as an entity whose support for the measure is within reach, especially for the good it could provide the university and community, we implore the state to be forthcoming with information, lay out all the data for taxpayers to see and make a strong case for seeing progress in this state.