TOUGH DECISIONS ARRIVE TO LATE FOR LEGISLATURE

The affable Bob Griffin, speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives, offered this greeting to colleagues returning to Jefferson City: "Welcome back. We have no money. Let's go home." Besides playing into the hands of those cynics who say the welfare of the state is its least risk when the legislature is not in session, Griffin's message is amiss. The state does have money, and the charge that should be given lawmakers is that the dollars should be watched closely. And such a message shouldn't be necessitated by the times.

On Wednesday, the Missouri General Assembly will hear Gov. John Ashcroft's estimation of the state's fiscal condition. Legislators have not waited for the State of the State address to describe the circumstances as bleak, given the dearth in revenue growth from a weakened economy. From various lawmakers, we have heard these words describing the 1992 legislative session: "tough decisions." We would contribute a reaction to that: "good."

Lawmakers are elected to serve citizen interests at the capital; their vigilance shouldn't be limited to those years when the economy is struggling. If the decisions are tough-minded when times are good, the path should be smoothed for those made when revenues are not as plentiful. We see nothing wrong with guarding closely the public pursestrings during periods of state growth. We see much wrong with lawmakers, not necessarily Griffin, lamenting the discipline demanded of them when the fiscal road turns rocky.

Ten years ago this month, then-Gov. Christopher Bond asked the General Assembly for a "tight-fisted" budget of $4.2 billion. Last May, Gov. John Ashcroft signed into law a budget that approached $9 billion. Revenue growth was dramatic in Missouri during the 1980s. Also, more people were on the employment rolls (theoretically cutting down on the need for some state services) and inflation sank markedly. Still, Missouri finds itself in 1992 pondering its budget and recognizing the need for "tough decisions."

The "tough" decisions are coming several years too late, when elected officials at the Capitol could have managed the growing revenues in such a way that fiscal hardships would be more easily overcome. Sure, the Missouri budget has been fractured over the years by federal mandates, particularly the oppressive school desegregation rulings that continue to drain the state treasury. But can we truthfully look at a state budget that has more than doubled in size over the last decade and say sufficient vision went into planning for a rainy day?

Listening to some lawmakers, you would think the rainy day has become a downpour. We don't envy them in making their "tough decisions." But we give them our votes so they will make them, ideally sooner than later.