TOBACCO WINDFALL: IT BELONGS TO TAXPAYERS

It's clear that a big topic in the session of the Missouri Legislature that opened last week will be how to spend $6.7 billion in anticipated tobacco-settlement funds over the next 25 years. When the prize is this huge, it's hard for legislators to keep their salivary glands under control.

Since it first became clear, months ago, that Missouri would share in the national tobacco windfall, we have repeatedly encouraged state officials to pass the money along to taxpayers in the form of refunds. This suggestions was based on two points:

* First, the money should rightfully be considered as state revenue subject to the limitations of the so-called Hancock Amendment in the state's Constitution. Under the Hancock Amendment, refunds are triggered when growth in total state revenue exceeds the growth in personal income.

* Second, the money cannot be considered reimbursement to the state's general fund for expenses incurred because of tobacco-related health problems among Missourians. Whatever health-related expenses there were got paid by using money taken from taxpayers. The state has no money of its own. Therefore, the huge anticipated tobacco checks cannot be considered as reimbursement to the state, but are, indeed, reimbursement to the state's taxpayers.

As you can well imagine, neither of these ideas has received a lot of notice in Jefferson City -- although there is some mild concern about the Hancock Amendment.

For months, the state's elected officials, including representatives and senators from every county and the city of St. Louis, have been floating one idea after another about how to spend the tobacco windfall. All of the legal barriers to receiving the money have been removed.

A companion issue during this legislative session will be the Missouri Supreme Court's ruling that allows legislators to change Attorney General Jay Nixon's multimillion-dollar fee plan for the lawyers he hired to handle the tobacco case. That is a separate issue entirely.

It is interesting to note that recent news coverage about the tobacco funds have highlighted the push and pull of special-interest groups that want to claim their share of the loot. But recently the last paragraph of an Associated Press story contained the information that lawyers representing taxpayers have filed a lawsuit claiming the settlement proceeds should be considered a part of total state revenue subject to taxpayer refunds.

As usual, giving back to taxpayers what is rightfully theirs has a low priority not just in the halls of the state Capitol. News organizations are ignoring this issue as the feeding frenzy explodes.