GOP Budget Chair: Yes, we've been lying to you
Republican budget leaders consistently have said they won't use federal stimulus funds to pay ongoing state expenses.
But House Budget Chairman Allen Icet, R-Wildwood, acknowledged Wednesday that his proposed spending plan relies on $329 million of the federal money.
Republicans have criticized Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, for proposing to use $809 million in stimulus funds in the operating budget. For example, Icet said last week that Nixon "was using $809 million to keep the programs whole. To me that's a non-starter." Icet has maintained that federal stimulus money should go only for one-time uses.
When pressed Wednesday, Icet said that while his budget plan includes hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts, he didn't chop enough to avoid using $329 million in federal stimulus money for operations...
Icet pulled $625 million of state general revenue out of the education budgets and substituted federal education funds from the stimulus package. In theory, his move would free up $625 million for one-time projects; Icet has said he will introduce a separate bill delineating those uses. However, the House balance sheet shows he reserved only $295.7 million. That means $329 million was absorbed into state operations.
This isn't a minor point. Icet and his Republican colleagues have responded with a shrug as they cut programs for children, families, seniors, poor folks (all of the people you might expect the GOP to hurt). We just can't use this money for ongoing expenses, they said.
Except they can, and they did. And wouldn't be straight about.
Here are just a few of the clearly bogus claims made by Icet and his GOP colleagues:
Icet, R-Wildwood, kept those [federal stimulus] funds out of the operating budget bills. He said a separate measure would be filed later, using the federal money for one-time projects, such as construction and tax rebates...
"All I've done is eliminate the appetite to spend one-time money on operating purposes," Icet said.
Icet said he doesn't want to use stimulus funds for ongoing programs, creating a budget hole that needs to be filled sometime in the future. He predicted that the economy could very well be worse next year.
“We could actually be back here a year from now with further cuts because the economy has continued to deteriorate,” Icet said. “That's my overall concern: How do we get the state of Missouri through a couple of years of difficult budget times?”
Republicans...have said they oppose using the one-time federal money for ongoing expenses, and would rather spend it on economically stimulative infrastructure projects, job training or tax relief.
Republicans in the Legislature and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder have criticized the idea because they contend federal stimulus money should not be used for ongoing expenses.
In Missouri, Republicans call Nixon’s plan for stimulus money a “Mad Max” gambit destined to mire the state in a financial hole from which it may take years to escape.
“Irresponsible,” said House Budget chairman Allen Icet, a Wildwood Republican.
“A ticking time bomb,” said House Speaker Ron Richard, a Joplin Republican.
Nixon relies on an estimated $800 million in federal stimulus dollars. Icet vows not to use any of that one-time money for on-going expenses, even though the Nixon Administration argues the federal money will jump-start the state economy, spurring state revenue to previous levels.
Icet doesn't buy the argument and says the governor's budget for next year raises a logical question.
House Budget Committee Chairman Allen Icet insisted during the news conference that using one-time funds from Washington to pay for ongoing expenses would backfire in later years. Both Icet and Richard referred to the difficult decisions the Republican majority made during other lean years; decisions they said they stuck to despite being roundly criticized. They said those tough decisions have paid off this year.
And the press is even reporting the same bogus claim today because the Republicans have said it so many times:
The bills that cover Medicaid and social services were the most contentious of the 13 that make up the $22 billion spending plan...
Budget chairman Allen Icet of Wildwood and other Republicans objected to using one-time federal stimulus dollars for ongoing expenses, saying it will create larger holes in future budgets.
Seriously. How long did they expect this ruse to continue?
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