Capitol Report

By

Brad Lager

 

The Need for a Merit Based Funding Formula

 

Earlier this year, the federal government passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  In this legislation, Congress allocated a portion of the “stimulus” dollars to be spent by the states on capital improvement projects.  As you can imagine, special interests across the nation began working to secure their portion of this pork barrel pot.  In fact, even in Missouri there were attempts to fund many “special” projects in the normal budget process using these special allocation funds.

 

As the General Assembly finalized the 2010 budget, there were many of these projects that no one really knew how or why they were included while others were left out.  In keeping with our commitment to fiscal accountability and transparency in the appropriations process, we decided to set all the projects aside so that a fair and methodical process could be established to rank any and all projects submitted for funding.  Most importantly, we wanted everyone to have an equal opportunity to submit their funding request and defend why it deserved a budget allocation.

 

As a result of this decision, Missouri ’s Joint Committee on Capital Improvements is establishing a reasonable and logical process for ranking projects that are eligible to receive these federal stabilization funds.  Specifically, they are looking for projects that are shovel-ready which will provide a benefit to Missouri’s taxpayers by modernizing Missouri’s infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water and sewer lines, etc., repairing or renovating current public facilities and/or the constructing of new facilities.  Therefore, I have asked the local governments and state-funded agencies in northwest Missouri to prepare and submit proposals for their highest-priority projects.  While we all understand that the resources available are limited, I believe that it is important for us to present our projects to the committee alongside those projects from across the state.

 

Although we may not like the insane level of spending that is occurring in our nation’s capital, the fact remains that it continues to occur.  I am committed to doing everything I can to make sure that every dollar being spent in our state, both federal and state funds, are done so within a process that is fair, reasonable and fiscally responsible.  I am hopeful that this merit based process proves successful so that these dollars are spent in a way that maximizes the benefit to Missouri ’s taxpayers while avoiding the irresponsible and unfair political earmarking that has plagued Washington DC .  With the appropriate levels of accountability, legislative oversight and transparency, we will have the greatest opportunity to maximize the benefits of these dollars for Missouri ’s taxpayers.

 

As always, please feel free to call, email, or write with your ideas or concerns.  The Capitol number is (573) 751-1415, my email is brad.lager@senate.mo.gov and my mailing address is Room 429, State Capitol Building , Jefferson City , MO 65101 .