JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Poplar Bluff Rep. Todd Richardson’s bill HJR 72 passed out of the House Rules committee on Monday with a 6-3 vote.
The bill proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting the governor from withholding funds without first notifying the General Assembly through proclamation. The bill is largely the result of last year’s veto of HB 253. After his veto, Gov. Jay Nixon chose to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars already allocated by the general assembly, claiming at the time that the override of his veto would result in reduced state revenues. Nixon argued that his withholds were in anticipation of not having funds available if lawmakers at the capitol passed the tax cut legislation. Republicans accused Nixon of violating his authority over the budget and playing political games with education and mental health funding.
Richardson’s said this bill does not oppose this executive power, but the Governor would have to explain the reason behind withholding funds. He added that a Governor withholding funds was a not maneuver invented last year.
“There are times when the governor needs that power when there is a legitimate reason,” Richardson said. “The constitution states the Governor can withhold funds when the revenue would not match the demand. There was no indication last year that revenue would decrease. The numbers today show that’s not the truth. We had a carry over of $350 million and he’s still withholding $140 million.”
Like the veto process, the bill gives the legislature an opportunity to challenge a withholding ruling with a two thirds majority in both the House and Senate.
“Which is hard to get in any circumstance,” he said
Richardson added that the Governor has the option of a line item veto to oppose particular pieces of the budget, which is a constitutional responsibility of the legislature.
This is the second time the bill has passed through a committee, getting voted out of the House General laws Committee on Jan. 30. Richardson said the process for the bill has been unique. Before the bill was introduced at the beginning of session, there was a rigorous drafting process. Richardson said he would usually try to work out problems in committee but he wanted the language on this bill to be airtight.
Because the bill proposes an amendment it would need to pass through the legislative process and be approved by Missouri voters in the next general election.
