Welcome to the Welfare State

KENNETT, Mo. -- It's difficult not using the seemingly outmoded "Show-Me State" slogan for Missouri at the time a newer, more relevant one seems more appropriate. As a matter of fact, I'd be willing to bet that thousands, give or take a few, would begin marching on Jefferson City to protest use of the more accurate one: "The Welfare State."

We Missourians are a proud lot, and we don't take lightly insulting or degrading slogans that darken the luster of what most of us believe is really the choice location in America. We prefer remembering the days when our state served as the launching pad for the uncharted West, when the Pony Express was launched from St. Joseph to the far reaches of the western coast, when the Mississippi was the nation's principal transportation system.

But the reality is Missouri's state government in the past 18 months has changed rapidly from one of careful, considered conservation to one desperately seeking to balance its books and scrape up enough cash to keep programs and services in existence. Let's admit that our multibillion-dollar budget can no longer keep us in the style to which we have become accustomed. It's hard scrabble time, folks, and there's little on the horizon to buoy our spirits or hold the promise of once again letting the good times roll.

Let's admit our highways are a national disgrace, our universities are reduced to penny-pinching methods that threaten to destroy past academic records of achievement, our public schools are facing oceans of red ink as they attempt to deal with the modern-day intellectual and emotional realities of today's pupils, our social service programs are underfunded, and some of our parents (with the promise of more to come) are being forced to give up custody of their children in order that they can receive the mental services they desperately need.

Some of our programs have digressed so much that one of the nation's leading newsmagazines recently cited Missouri as the one place to be avoided if parents were seeking adequate mental health care services for their offspring. It isn't very pleasant being labeled the nation's emotional dumping ground. I could go on, but frankly, I've depressed myself to such a point that I don't even want to contemplate additional descriptions of a state many of us dearly love and revere and respect. And, frankly, we deserve better.

If only, and this is a big if, we understood what has taken place in the relatively recent past that has made us the refuse pit of essential services. Frankly, until we begin to explore the reasons for this unexpected -- and virtually unnoticed -- demise, we can't begin to correct it. What went wrong? What have we done to ourselves, our communities, our counties and our state that has sent us falling to the bottom of lists that we once headed?

As one who has always believed the most important book published each year in Missouri is the Executive Budget, I am convinced that the answers we are seeking can be found within the 200 to 300 pages of this document which details the proposed spending by state government for its 5.6 million citizens from one July 1 to the next June 30. If the services are listed in this document, and if funds are to be allocated for their support, then this is Missouri's bible, its road map for the next 12 months.

Citizens should not be deceived by these official budgets, which are submitted each year to the legislature by the governor, for they are based on estimated revenues that are essential to the operation of all 16 state departments. If the money is there -- and the current one says $19 billion will be -- then the programs outlined in detail can be funded. If the revenue doesn't show up, the programs won't either.

So what's happening in Jefferson City to bring about this quality-depletion in state services? One vital factor is the inability of the state to catch up with the promises of the past that have triggered the inauguration of more and more programs, many demanded by special constituencies.

The present Constitution of Missouri says the principal responsibility of Jefferson City is the state's huge public school system, an objective that makes a lot of sense since education is the basis for a responsible democracy, an enlightened citizenry and the progress of future generations. Indeed, the framers of the 1945 document considered education so vital that they actually earmarked one-fourth of Missouri's tax revenue for the support of local schools. There were some who went kicking and screaming into this area, but the vast majority of citizens realize that no state is meeting its fundamental obligation to constituents until it guarantees the education of its citizens.

Despite efforts by Gov. Holden to boost revenue for local schools, the state is scheduled to spend nearly $1 billion more for social service programs than for elementary and secondary education. This disparity has been going on for more than a decade, triggered by requests for more and more welfare assistance, more and more prison cells for out-of-control drug abuse, and a lowering of accessible revenue as a result of corporate tax gifts and renewal projects for decaying urban centers. Not only is taxpayer investment rapidly increasing for social programs, it is also subjected to intense parochial/political pressure for urban renewal projects that diminish both local and state capital. Obviously, rapid transit outranks rapid classroom improvements.

The manner in which state revenue is divided is as critical as the amount available, and the rapid increase in total revenue is only significant if the proper programs receive their proportionate share. It is a lesson yet unlearned.

Jack Stapleton is the editor of Missouri News & Editorial Service.