For the past few years, we have seen the executive branch withhold portions of Missouri’s operating budget, even before the budget for that fiscal year actually starts. This irresponsible move could come to an end, if Missouri voters support Amendment 10 this November.

Amendment 10 was placed on the ballot by House Joint Resolution 72, which passed both the Missouri House and Senate with bipartisan super majorities. Amendment 10 is very simple, but would make important changes. House Joint Resolution 72 was only slightly more than one page in length and would only make three substantive changes to the Missouri Constitution.

The first change Amendment 10 would make is, if passed, the governor would no longer be able to withhold money from public debt payments. This is vitally important for credit rating purposes. If we pay for nothing else, we should pay the state’s debts.

The second change would allow the Legislature oversight over the executive branch’s reduction in spending in other areas. This governor has made a habit out of withholding money for education, health care and other vital services. If passed, the Legislature would be able to reverse those cuts if two-thirds of the General Assembly felt they were unnecessary.

Finally, the governor would no longer be able to propose an unbalanced budget, based on long-shot legislation, and then criticize the General Assembly for not passing all of his revenue generation devices. As recently as 2013, the executive branch proposed and wrote the piece of legislation eliminating the Senior Citizen Property Tax Credit and balanced his budget on its passage, and then promptly vetoed it when the Legislature passed his bill.

Amendment 10 would provide more budget stability moving forward and would prevent an unreasonable governor from damaging vital state services unnecessarily.

I fully support this extra check and balance over the executive branch and hope my constituents will do the same. Every January, lawmakers have sat in the House chamber, only to hear the governor put forth a budget that makes no fiscal sense. It may sound good to a smaller number of his political base, but it hurts too many Missourians, and it forces the Legislature to make cuts that he only criticizes. By the time we pass a more realistic budget in May, the executive branch has already threatened to cut services wherever possible. When he signs the budget bills in June, he starts to withhold money, except the fiscal year does not start until July 1.

The time has come to end this practice, and we can do it in November.

In other news, harvest season is now upon us. As many know, we’ve suffered some challenging weather this year. If you are in need of an overweight permit hauling exemption, please contact the governor’s office at (573) 751-3222.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my office. Thank you.