CAN WE AFFORD ANOTHER HOME RUN?

KENNETT, Mo. -- If there were not thousands of low- and middle-income Missouri families without medical coverage, if the state had one of the nation's best-recognized educational systems and if employment opportunities were available to all willing workers, then -- and only then -- could Missourians indulge in such fiscal misadventures as supplying funds for construction of a professional baseball team's proposed new stadium.

One more caveat should be added to the qualifications listed above: If Missouri was not fully loaded with bonded debt, a problem that would be greatly accelerated by adding millions to the already heavy debt load of state government and its political subdivisions.

Before members of the General Assembly place their stamp of approval on a multimillion-dollar proposal by the owners of the St. Louis Cardinals, they should be required to read a list of the bonded debt of state, county and municipal governments as well as school and special-project districts. While the time required to read such a list may well impinge on busy legislative schedules, which always seem to be impenetrable except for cocktail and dinner parties sponsored by special interests, such an effort should be considered mandatory for the 197 members of the General Assembly.

Before such conscientious effort becomes rampant in Jefferson City, no such project is expected to yield total participation, particularly by lawmakers who represent districts in the St. Louis area. Virtually all of these, save a few brave souls such as state Rep. Jim Murphy of St. Louis County, have placed parochial gains ahead of the entire state's economic, health and educational needs. One could even suggest that such lawmakers, including the vast majority from St. Louis, are in violation of the oath they took as state legislators. That oath, incidentally, requires them to place their highest level of attention and effort to the needs and wishes of all Missourians, not just the constituents within their own district. How well this oath is being observed is left to all Missourians.

Despite the fact the state still enjoys a triple A rating from bonding companies, it is burdened with voter-approved and subsidiary-issued long-term debt that should raise a fed flag in bonding houses all over the country. A review of this debt will show that the state and its assorted political subdivisions, including state colleges and universities, enters the liability column at more than $20 billion. This is an amount that is three times greater than Missouri expects to collect this year in its General Revenue Fund, which finances the programs of most of the state's 16 departments.

It was just 10 years ago that bond payments began on a new St. Louis football stadium requiring the state's full participation with local governments. This activity, which still has an unpaid balance of $209.03 million, has thus far cost state taxpayers more in interest charges than in principal reduction. Because state officials were inept in protecting the financial interests of all Missourians, they unknowingly turned over several revenue-producing rights to the owners of the St. Louis Rams, including huge profits by selling the name of the stadium to private corporations. The irony is that Rams' owners collected millions from this single transaction from an airline that has been forced into bankruptcy.

The same scenario for a professional baseball team is now following the travesty of just a decade ago for the benefit of a professional football team. The threat 10 years ago was that without a stadium, St. Louis would never find a pro football team, and the threat a decade later is that the pro baseball team in St. Louis, which has received undying loyalty from fans throughout the state, may leave for greener playing fields. And you thought home-siding salesmen were slick!

The state's general obligation bond liabilities currently have an unpaid balance of $1.89 billion, while state capital and lease-purchase agreements now have a balance of $70.1 million, and other capital obligation liabilities reach $102.2 million. These add up to $2.07 billion and are listed, almost incidentally, in various debt analyses conducted by independent watchdogs. But if you take all of these liabilities and factor them in future budgets, you will find their first-pay status will create a major state funding crisis even during a slight dip in the nation's economy, a dip which incidentally has already been spotted on Wall Street and around Washington.

If a stadium were Missouri's only liability, some case might be made for a smaller, more reasonable state participation in civic improvements if there were not another level of indebtedness that affects a majority of taxpayers. The liabilities incurred by so-called independent statutory authorities, a classification that includes all state-supported colleges and universities, the Missouri Housing Corporation, the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, the Missouri Health and Educational Facilities Authority an the Environmental Improvement and Energy Resource Authority, have issued bonds that now total $18.8 billion. Some of these bonds are retired by annual appropriations from Jefferson City, and it would be well for someone in that jurisdiction to consider how they would be made during even a slight drop in the General Revenue Fund.

Nor does this liability litany include the bonded indebtedness of counties, cities, local school districts and special project authorities. All of these debts must be reduced by citizens living within the taxing district and thus the financial drain is at the local rather than state level. It is still debt, however, owed by individual taxpayers of Missouri.

After reading this liability list can any Missourian honestly and enthusiastically support yet another state handout totaling millions for millionaires?

~Jack Stapleton is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.