THERE'S HOPE VITAL FUNDING WILL BE RELEASED

Cape Girardeau School District officials are hoping for release of $1 million in capital-improvement funds for the Cape Girardeau Area Career and Technology Center that have been long withheld.

And last week, Gov. Bob Holden allowed some hope that these hopes may be fulfilled. First some background.

The General Assembly had appropriated the funds last year as an installment on the state's 50 percent share of the marvelous, newly completed facility.

Gov. Mel Carnahan then froze the entire, $161 million of capital-improvement funding, including this $1 million for the career and technology center.

(Also included are some $18.25 million for projects in Southeast Missouri, including $11.95 million for the River Campus project at Southeast Missouri State University and $4.4 million for four area port authorities.)

At the time, Carnahan's stated reason was a pending case in the Missouri Supreme Court concerning the amount of refunds the state might owe under the Hancock Amendment. He felt it necessary to defer spending this money until the case was decided.

Then, some three months ago, the supreme court ruled on the matter in a fashion that largely favored the state and lessened the potential budgetary impact.

It was then that Holden announced he would have to leave the funds frozen owing to the $350 million budgetary shortfall state budgeteers found themselves facing. Since then, lawmakers passed and sent to the governor a balanced state budget, having made the necessary cuts and tough choices these tighter budgets demand. Also, it is true that state tax collections in some categories have fallen below projections.

Last week, the governor said during a visit to Cape Girardeau that there was some hope for release of the funds, saying he was working to determine whether some of the projects could be afforded.

"We are trying to get all the information ... right now on the state's economic picture," Holden said. "I want to do that as quickly as I can, and as much as I can."

State Sen. Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau also stressed to the governor on his visit last week the disadvantage local school officials are facing and the pressing need for the school district to receive these long-promised funds. Kinder and state Rep. Jason Crowell of Cape Girardeau, have been urging this course of action on the governor.

Although the $1 million in capital-improvement funds remains in limbo, the final portion of the state's share, another $832,000, is in the fiscal year 2002 operating budget now on Holden's desk. Let's hope the $1 million will be released to our local district, which has absorbed the hit to this point but can't be expected to do so forever.