Bill seeks to take funding from blind
Two months after Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon proposed a $106 million budget cut to the Department of Higher Education, legislators in Jefferson City are working to maintain current state funding to public colleges and universities in Missouri.
House Bill 2011, which appropriates money for the Department of Social Services, was discussed in the House of Representatives Tuesday. It is one of the latest strategies to reallocate money to Higher Education, which was reduced to a $66 million, or 7.8 percent, cut after Nixon announced his expectation to receive $40 million from a national settlement with mortgage lenders.
The bill, authored by budget chairman Rep. Ryan Silvey, R-38, calls for a major reduction of funds for Supplemental Aid to the Blind, which pays the medical insurance for blind Missouri residents who make too much money to qualify for Medicare or Medicaid.
Senior Isaac Robinson, an intern for Silvey, said the $28 million program serves about 2,800 individuals, at an average of $10,000 per recipient a year. While the $28 million would go toward reducing the Higher Education budget cut, $6 million would be put back into the program. If passed, the other 12 budget bills would collectively eliminate the remainder of the proposed budget cuts to Higher Education, Robinson said.
HB 2012 would not cut the Blind Pension program, which pays $707 a month to blind residents 18 years or older who do not own real or personal property, such as a car or recreational items, worth more than $2,000 if single and $4,000 if married.
Among the bill’s opposition leaders, Gov. Nixon said he disagrees with the idea of using money from the blind to compensate for Higher Education.
“More than 2,000 needy blind Missourians depend on this program for access to vital health care services,” Nixon said during a March 13 press release. “Without it, they would be forced to make impossible choices between life-saving prescriptions and groceries, between doctors’ visits and the electric bill.“
Rep. Zach Wyatt, R-2, said those receiving the supplemental money are already financially stable and not in great need of the program. He said blindness is the only disability in Missouri with a supplemental funding program.
“We don’t have a cerebral palsy fund or we don’t have a fund for Alzheimer’s,” he said. “Is it fair that we’re putting a lot of money towards blind [people] and not towards people who have cerebral palsy or people that might have other ailments?”
University President Troy Paino said he isn’t familiar enough with the bill to comment about its legitimacy, but said he has been involved as a public advocate for Higher Education.
Paino said critics have accused Silvey of depending on “funny money” that is not completely guaranteed. He said an example of this is relying on projected Missouri lottery revenues to partially fund primary and secondary education.
“Here in Higher Ed we think it should be a priority in the state and I want as much funding as we can possibly get from the state,” he said. “But where that money should come from — the details of the budget — I think I’ll stay out of.”
However, Paino said he has publicly expressed opinions about how the state could generate more revenue. He said one of the areas that should be explored in trying to restore Higher Education’s budget is Missouri’s cigarette tax, which is the lowest in the United States by a significant margin.
He said the cigarette tax could be modestly raised to eliminate about half of the $66 million deficit, while still remaining the lowest cigarette tax in the nation.
“It’s so glaring,” he said. “We’re so below number 49, and we’re talking about states that are tobacco states that have a higher cigarette tax.”
Paino said politicians are not discussing this opportunity enough.
“It’s political dynamite. No one wants to be labeled as the person who voted for a tax increase,” he said.
The 13 budget bills will be voted on in the House today. If passed, they will go to the Senate appropriations committee for further business.
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