JEFFERSON CITY • After
Gov. Jay Nixon announced that doling out education funding hinged on the
Legislature sustaining his vetoes of 10 bills, some lawmakers shot
back, pointing to other areas of government that could be cut.
Sen. Kurt Schaefer,
R-Columbia, and Rep. Rick Stream, R-Kirkwood, sent a letter to the State
Highway Patrol requesting it restrict the use of state-owned airplanes.
"Limiting the use of
state-owned aircraft will help ensure that the resources it takes to
maintain and operate such aircraft remain available for when they are
most needed by Missouri citizens,” Schaefer and Stream state in the
letter.
The request follows
Nixon's Tuesday announcement that he would withhold a $100 million
general revenue increase for the Foundation Formula, which funds K-12
public schools, and a $43 million general revenue increase for public
higher education institutions based on performance unless the
Legislature sustains his vetoes of the 10 tax break bills. These
withholds were part of $1.1 billion of budget cuts made by Nixon for the
$26.4 billion fiscal year 2015 budget. The fiscal year begins July 1.
The tax break bills, many
passed on the last day of the session, provide breaks to restaurants,
dry cleaners and power companies, to name a few. Nixon estimated the
bills would drop state revenue $425 million per year.
Schaefer noted that
restricting the use of these airplanes would be another way to cut
government waste without holding children "hostage" and cutting
important services.
“The governor continues
to blame the Legislature for our economic failures, yet he shares no
economic development plans except expanding welfare by taking federal
dollars which is no plan at all,” Schaefer in a statement. “While he
continues to cut services for some of our most needy and education, he
flies around in his state-of-art $6 million plane using state money to
pay for the expense of pilots, maintenance, fuel, and other associated
travel costs.”
Story and comments: http://www.stltoday.com
No comments:
Post a Comment