LEGION TEAM MEMORIES -- AND FANTASY

Fifty years ago on Aug. 18, 1951, the CAPE AMERICAN LEGION team boarded a Frisco train for Altus, Okla., where it was to compete in the regional championship after winning the same state championship won last week by CHAFFEE'S Legion team. The Cape team players making the trip were Coach Charles Blattner, Manager Jack Lail, Batboy Jerry Ford, Dellum Hanks, Paul Heuring, Paul Stehr, Gary Rust, Joe Weaver, C.W. Suedekum, Dick Wilson, John Moll, Walter Ford, Bill Greer, Trueman Blackman, Mick Shannon, Bill Mabry, Jim Minton and Bob Miller. Richard Brockmire, also a team member, was hospitalized and unable to make the trip.

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Incidentally, REX RUST was selected as the MVP during a St. Louis Cardinal Fantasy Baseball event last Thursday in St. Louis. Quite a story ... playing in a Cardinal uniform in BUSCH Stadium.

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The following letter to Gov. BOB HOLDEN from state Rep. CHARLES QUINCY TROUPE, D-St. Louis, raises some interesting questions that need to be reflected on and discussed. I'm sharing it in its entirety.

Dear Governor Holden:

This letter is to express my tremendous discontent with your handling of our budget for FY 2001-2002.

In 2001, you were a new governor coming into a very difficult situation and the process that you used was undesirable but it was understandable. I have a very serious problem with how you targeted the elimination of services and resources to the programs that were designed to assist minorities and women in the Bootheel because these areas were crucial in not only electing you but the rest of the Democratic slate that was successful.

In your 2002 budget, the governor, the House, the Senate, and some economists at Missouri University projected in December 2000 that Missouri would experience a 5.6 percent growth rate and the budget was predicated on those assumptions.

Section 27, Article 4 of the Constitution states that the governor may control the rate at which any appropriation is expended during the period of the appropriation by allotment or other means, and may reduce the expenditures of the state or any of its agencies below their appropriations whenever the actual revenues are less than the revenue estimates upon which the appropriations were based.

Coupled with the above stated language of the Constitution, the governor also has veto discretion of any items in the budget that he feels are unnecessary, duplicated, or undesirable. In my 23 years in the Legislature, every governor that preceded you and with whom I served, made these cuts by way of the veto. They took the heat for the decisions that they made. They consulted with recipients of the proposed veto funds to see how they could maintain programs that were crucial to the survival of these organizations, learning institutions, seniors, children, etc. Your attempted use of the Constitution rather than the veto power is misguided. I believe it to be illegal, and it shows political malfeasance. It does not appear to show any control, involvement, or monitoring by you in the decisions that are being made.

On June 22, when you signed the budget, what you in essence said by signing the budget is that the work we did in the House was tremendous, and the job that the Senate did was also time-consuming and involved. Even though we had a new budget chair in the House and a new appropriations chair in the Senate, they both were tenacious in their concerns to bring in a budget that was balanced, reasonable, responsible and that was a true reflection of both the House and the Senate's legislative intent.

It is my belief that you concurred with the House and the Senate conferees, and the House and Senate Appropriations Committee. Then immediately after signing the budget and concurrence with our work, void of any vetoes, you turned around and ordered the staff in each department to withhold an additional 15 percent cut. You already had a 3 percent withholding and then you ordered 15 percent to be withheld for a total of 18 percent of the budget being withheld.

I think it is unconstitutional and irresponsible. It totally and completely circumvents the House and the Senate's appropriation process. It is a glowing example of what is going to happen in the ensuing years in 2003 when we have over 135 legislators in the House with less than 6 years' experience and over 120 of them with no experience. I think this is a misuse of executive powers and I believe that the House and the Senate should reject your 15 percent reserves without input from the House and Senate Appropriations process.

In closing, let me say that I am also concerned about your Executive Order addressing the Life Sciences issue. The House and the Senate did not see fit, for whatever the reason, or have an agreement, on how the tobacco money should be spent relative to this issue. The issuance of an Executive Order for the Life Sciences appropriation while the Legislature was out of session bypassed both the appropriation and legislative process and rendered any House and Senate positions void. This is the same strategy Governor Wilson used to issue an Executive Order establishing the Department of Aging when the Legislature soundly defeated that issue time and time again. I doubt that the Legislature will do anything about it, but personally, I find it offensive and frightening.

Sincerely,

Charles Quincy Troupe

State Representative

District 62

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Attorney General JAY NIXON stopped by the newspaper office while in town last week. Among the issues discussed was his perspective on the state's case concerning unclaimed property being held by the Cole County Circuit Court. Nixon made a strong legal and practical case for why the funds should be turned over to the state treasurer. My discussion last week centered on the fact that the judges' position and response had not been covered by the news media ... and they too make a strong argument for their position, which has also been challenged by a lawsuit filed by State Treasurer Nancy Farmer.

In my opinion the judges did not abuse the use of the money ... and I don't believe Nixon is suggesting that. He is questioning the authority they had to determine how to spend the money. I will repeat what I said in the original column: There are probably a lot of lawyers and judges who will be interested in how this comes out.

Gary Rust is the chairman of Rust Communications.