This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon contended today that the state Senate was jeopardizing the public’s safety by cutting out $21 million in federal homeland security grants distributed to hundreds of local law enforcement agencies.
But the Republican senator responsible for the cut later accused the governor, a Democrat, of engaging in “sequester-type drama’’ to avoid dealing with the legislative disputes that prompted the Senate action.
Speaking at a conference of first responders in St. Charles, Nixon said such grants have been crucial in helping the state respond to natural disasters, such as the deadly Joplin tornado in 2011 and this spring’s flooding in communities such as Clarksville.
“When people’s communities have been hit by tornadoes or the flood waters are rising, making sure you have the resources to deal with those in a professional way, the way we’ve set the standard in the Show Me state, is exceptionally important,” Nixon said.
The governor called on local public-safety agencies and law enforcement to press their legislators to restore the money from the budget for the coming fiscal year that begins July 1.
“Cutting by 50 percent the federal funds that help our communities respond to these challenges, as the Senate’s fiscal year 2014 budget would do, is simply wrong,” Nixon said in his speech. “I urge the General Assembly to take the House position to support public safety and ensure our emergency responders have the resources they need to keep our communities safe.”
Afterward, Nixon told reporters that he was mystified by the reason for the cuts. “This is an area that’s been non-political,” Nixon said. “The House funded all of these pass-through dollars at 100 percent. This is not about casting blame. This is about getting this fixed.These folks need these assets. This is not political. This should not be controversial.”
But state Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia and head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the reason for the cuts should be no surprise to Nixon. “We’re fine with the funding, but you have to explain to us what it is,’’ Schaefer said in a telephone interview.
Schaefer said his panel is seeking to end a practice going back several decades, in which governors and their administrations have offered up little information to legislators about federal grants and aid.
“When we ask what those funds go to, they will not give us a clear answer,’’ the senator said. “What I told them in the hearing, ‘We’re fine with the funding, but you have to explain what that is. ‘ ”
Schaefer added, however, that occasionally legislators are not fine with federal money because of “federal strings,” which often are hidden by governors via "hidden pass-through lines" in their proposed budgets.
Schaefer emphasized that if legislators get enough information, they are unlikely to object to the homeland security grants. “All I’m asking for, before we finalize this budget, is a very simple explanation of what grants these are, what the money goes to, and what the obligations are that go along with that,” the senator added.
As for Nixon’s appearance in St. Charles, Schaefer contended, “This is just drama on behalf of the governor, just like the (federal) sequester, to make it look like something awful is going to happen, if we don’t, without explanation, give them the federal funding that they want.”
Budget fight related to battle over scanned documents
In response to a query by the Beacon, the governor sought to separate the cuts in homeland security grants from the ongoing controversy in Jefferson City over the Department of Revenue’s scanning of birth certificates and other personal documents, including concealed-carry permits. Some gun-rights advocates, including Schaefer, have asserted that the state is improperly retaining the copies and sharing information with federal agencies.
The governor emphasized to reporters that he wasn’t sure there’s a link between the homeland-security cuts and the concealed-carry controversy. But he then added, “It seems to me it’s been a distraction toward the major issues that need to be accomplished this session.”
Schaefer replied that the cuts and the concealed-carry fight are unquestionably “all related’’ and attributed the problem, in part, to the Nixon administration’s implementation of federal REAL ID requirements, despite the General Assembly’s vote in 2009 to bar enforcement.
The REAL ID mandate is tied to federal anti-terrorism efforts. But Schaefer and his allies say that all the documents that have to be presented to obtain a drivers license – such as a birth certificate and marriage license – put the public at risk of identity theft, especially if the documents are scanned and stored by the state or the third-party firm now being used.
Nixon said that the legislators’ complaints about the document retention are misdirected. “We must make sure we balance security and privacy and our license system,” the governor said.
“I don’t mean to make light of any of this, any way shape or form,” the governor said. But he then chuckled as he alluded to the outcry over “copying birth certificates that the state already has access to.”
“I understand and respect the privacy issues around this,” the governor said. But he added, “We have to have a system in which these IDs mean something.”
Schaefer replied that the Nixon administration’s document-retention practices, especially whether they are necessary, need to be the subject of public debate. “At minimum, we should have that discussion,” the senator said.
Lawyers representing a man who has filed a lawsuit over the document-scanning have subpoenaed Nixon to testify. The governor said Thursday he had no plans to do so, adding that his lawyers will handle the matter.
Nixon blasts sales tax hike, lauds Medicaid expansion
In St. Charles, the governor did not mention the House's action earlier this week in favor of SB 26, which cuts Missouri’s corporate income taxes and increases the state’s sales taxes.
But soon after, Nixon fired off an email reaffirming his opposition: “As I explained in my letter to the Senate earlier this year, increasing sales taxes on all Missourians and shifting the burden on to seniors and veterans on fixed incomes is not the right approach to growing our economy or creating jobs.”
Backers say the tax shift would encourage economic growth and counter income tax cuts in neighboring Kansas, which some fear could encourage Missouri businesses to move. Opponents say the tax change shifts the burden to lower-income Missourians and also could cost the state’s treasury up to $900 million a year.
In his impromptu news conference, Nixon did discuss another legislative issue: his effort – so far, unsuccessful -- to persuade the GOP-controlled General Assembly to participate in the Medicaid expansion sought by the federal Affordable Care Act.
The federal government would pay all of the expansion costs for the first three years, beginning in 2014, and at least 90 percent thereafter. It would add about 300,000 additional people to the state’s Medicaid rolls, many of them low-wage workers with no insurance benefits.
Although hospital and business groups side with the governor, Republican legislative leaders are solidly against the expansion, saying it’s too costly and an improper expansion of government power.
The state House and Senate both rejected the proposed expansion in votes this week, a fact that Nixon acknowledged. But he added that he retained some hope of their change of heart.
“There’s still ways to do it,” Nixon said. “Turning down almost $2 billion in federal funding is a mistake. I think this needs to get done; I hope they do get this done. If they don’t do it, it’s missing a great opportunity to help the economy.”
The governor added, “The opportunity does not end with the legislative session. Nor does the pressure dissipate. Quite frankly, if they fail to perform I think it enhances the pressure. I think that pressure builds even more because we have given up the opportunity to add 24,000 jobs and to give health-care coverage to 300,000 working Missourians.”
The governor has been traveling the state for months extolling the benefits of Medicaid expansion. He indicated Thursday that his travels will continue, although his pitch may change.
Beginning in 2014, Nixon said, “if they don’t move forward on this, each Missourian will take $300 out of their pocket in taxes and send those to Washington, D.C. to be spent in other states to strengthen their health-care system. I think the pressure will continue to mount, the coalition will continue to grow.”
Schaefer made clear that he and his legislative allies remain opposed to Medicaid expansion, and have no plans to include it in the FY2014 budget. It's due on the governor's desk by May 10.
