Candidates share views on state legislative issues

By Ralph Pokorny

Nevada Daily Mail

Two candidates are seeking election to the 125th District seat in the Missouri House of Representatives. Democrat Larry Berry and Republican Barney Fisher each offer unique perspectives on the issues facing the legislature today, and outlined their positions on a variety of those issues.

Larry Berry -- Democrat

Education, the economy and healthcare are Larry Berry's top three concerns that he wants to work on if he is elected to the Missouri legislature next week.

"Education was the reason I ran two years ago and if I thought education was in trouble then, it certainly is now," Berry said.

Education spending accounts for at least 25 percent of the state's budget.

It is the first priority after the payment of debt, said Berry, who recently retired as superintendent of schools in Hume.

Last year, the state legislature passed the largest budget in state history and left education $600 million short, he said.

Just because the state does not fully fund the foundation formula that determines how much money each school district receives, it does not mean that the need goes away, he said.

"It's just passed down to the local level," Berry said.

That hurts the state in two ways. It not only caused school districts to make budget cuts, increase their tax levy or both, but it also has an economic impact on the communities by reducing the money that is spent by the district and its employees.

Last year, nearly 200 school districts tried to pass tax levy increases and 80 percent of them passed. Local people are being asked to pick up the reduction in state funds and in most cases they have, Berry said.

"Nevada tried to pass a levy increase and probably will try again. That levy would never have been on the ballot if the formula were fully funded," he said.

All of the schools in Bates and Vernon County will probably come up $2 million dollars short of being fully funded, he said.

"It behooves us, because we receive more than the state average to have that formula fully funded. It's an advantage to every community in the two counties. It's not just the schools passing the levy, but every school and that turns into buying power which affects the entire area," Berry said.

The state has more options to raise money than the local school districts, which are totally dependent on property taxes. They can close tax loopholes and increase the tax on riverboat gambling, he said.

The gaming industry has agreed to a 2 percent increase and they have had record years the last two years, he said.

"Locally you just have property taxes," Berry said. "It's the only way we have to go."

Berry said that he feels that he is uniquely qualified to work in this area because of his background in education, a feeling that is echoed by his endorsement by nine education groups including the Missouri State Teachers Association and the Missouri-National Education Association.

Another area that Berry feels is very important to address is the rural economy.

"I have a strong interest in revitalizing the rural economy. We tend to get left behind in available capital for investment as well as technology," he said.

Last year several state programs, including Rural Economic Assistance and the Missouri Main Street received large cuts.

Those are major cuts to rural programs, he said.

"As a budget cut they eliminate a lot of investment in rural economies. Both of those programs would have helped Nevada and Vernon County," he said.

The Missouri Job Development program was also severely cut, he said.

Berry said that his major economic issue is Missouri agriculture, which runs from production to development to marketing.

The Agri-Missouri marketing program needs to be as well known as Florida Orange Juice and Washington Apples, he said.

One measure that would have had a direct impact on area soybean growers was the SAC Act that Berry said was voted out of committee, 22-0 with support from both parties. When it reached the floor the leadership defeated it.

This act would have allowed farmers to save some of the seeds of the Round-Up Ready soybeans they grew for replanting. The farmers would still have paid the development fees to Monsanto.

Berry said that the estimate is that it would save farmers between $6 and $15 per acre.

Currently Missouri has four ethanol plants in operation with a fifth under construction.

Berry said that when the fifth plant goes into operation they would consume 21 percent of the state's corn crop to produce ethanol.

"I would like to see an ethanol plant here," he said.

Berry said that health care is very important to everyone from kids to seniors and he thinks the state needs to be proactive in health care and work on preventive measures.

It is a case of either paying for it now or paying for it later, he said.

"We're much better off to work on the preventive side rather than wait until something major happens," he said.

The Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health coverage for low-income children has been very good. It was on the cutting board last year, but was reinstated at the last minute and saved coverage for 80,000 kids, he said.

"They don't get healthy just because they don't have insurance and the emergency room is a really expensive health insurance plan," Berry said.

The Women's Health Initiative, which provides health screening for low income women is also a good program, he said, adding that this includes cancer screening and other preventative measures that saves expenses down the road.

Berry said that there is an opportunity to use the state's Senior RX program to fill a $3,000 gap in a similar program from the federal government to provide prescription drugs to seniors. These programs cover the same things and by using the state program to fill the gap in the federal program would save Missouri $12 million.

"It sounds like a win-win proposition," he said. "This would give seniors continuous coverage." He said that state cuts in Medicaid are not the most efficient way to save money because the federal government covers a major portion of the cost. For an adult, the state pays $3 while the federal share is $6. For a child the state pays $3, while the federal government pays $10.

As part of Berry's healthcare stance he said that he supports keeping he Nevada Habilitation Center open.

"I'm fully prepared to go to the wall to keep Benton Hall open," he said.

Barney Fisher -- Republican

Fisher believes education is going to be the number one issue facing the Missouri legislature when they convene in January 2005.

"It will dominate the state until something is done. Eventually the funding formula will have to be completely redone," he said.

The funding formula determines how much state aid each Missouri school district receives.

"The existing formula certainly isn't fair. That is why there is an ongoing lawsuit. That's what courts are into -- fair. I regret that it's had to come to that but over 240 school districts felt it was necessary," he said.

And that is what Fisher says will be his top priority if he is elected.

"It is incumbent on the governor and the legislature to adequately and fairly fund education or the courts are going to do it," he said, adding that the last time the courts made the decision it cost taxpayers $500 million and not one nickel of it filtered down to southwest Missouri.

Fisher said that the new governor and the legislature have to work together and come up with a new formula that is fair to all.

He said that the current formula worked fine six or seven years ago but it certainly has not been working the last couple of years.

Not only should the state provide full funding, Fisher would like the legislature to see that 90 percent of that money makes its way to the classroom to benefit the students.

To Fisher, fully funding education includes things like providing full funding for the career ladder for teachers that provides financial incentives for them to continue their education.

"The least we can do for them is to get more money in their pockets," he said.

Fisher said that if we eliminate wasteful spending the state could fully fund these programs without raising taxes.

Increased funding for the schools is not the only help schools in rural counties, like those in the 125th district need.

The state needs to eliminate the requirement that construction bids are based on the prevailing wage for schools in Class 3 and Class 4 counties, Fisher said.

Missouri counties are classified according to their total assessed valuation, with Class 3 and Class 4 counties those with the lowest total assessed valuation.

The Missouri Department of Labor establishes a list of what the prevailing wage is for all of the recognized crafts and contractors must use those rates when they bid on a project for a school or other government agency.

Fisher said that prevailing wage for electrical work is about $43 per hour, while the average rate in this area is closer to $15 per hour, Fisher said.

So school districts are required by regulation to pay almost three times the actual going rate and it take what is supposed to be a competitive bidding situation and making it a non-competitive situation, he said.

The only way around this is for school staff to do the work or for the contractor himself or an immediate family member to do the work, Fisher said.

"A local contractor will have very little wiggle room on materials. He is going to have pay what the supplier demands and if wages are already fixed there is no wiggle room there and that only leaves time and every project is going to take a certain amount of time to do right. It is supposed to be a competitive bid, but it is anything but," he said.

This position is consistent with the Missouri State School Board, at least as far as Class 3 and Class 4 counties, he said.

What the large metropolitan school districts do is their business, but the small southwest Missouri school districts need relief from this, he said.

"I'm not anti-union, but when the state code requires schools districts to pay prevailing wage, that has a damaging effect on already squeezed budgets," he said.

"The bottom line is that whatever it is going to take to fully and fairly fund education, I'm convinced is already here in the state and we just have to stop wasting our money and make every dollar count for education and I think we'll be surprised. The money is already here, we just to make sure it is spent wisely and not wasted," he said.

The state also rents office buildings and the often gets stuck with rental agreements by which the state pays rent on essentially empty buildings. "I know of two cases where the state is wasting on the order of $200,000 on rental space they are not using. Sometimes it's a matter of timing," he said.

The rental agreements should be written in a way that the state could get relief if they do not need the building. That is just a matter of writing the contract so it benefits the state, he said.

Fisher, who along with his wife Mary, has owned and operated a business, said that there is a strong anti-business climate in Missouri with too many regulations and too much taxation.

"I think in a very real way we need tort reform because we hardly ever look at our medical professionals as business men and women, but they are employers. They hire secretaries, nurses and receptions and band together and build clinics and stimulate the economy," Fisher said.

"We're running businesses and medical professionals out of the state through overregulation and overtaxation," he said.

Fisher said that if we would turn business lose it would dump more money into the treasury than taxation ever thought of.

Currently, community leaders work to attract new business, however if we can give Missouri a positive business climate, their job would change to one picking and choosing which business we want in the community rather than hoping they come, he said.

"I think that is the goal to work for, a more positive business climate," he said.

The key to my candidacy is that I'm certainly pro-education and pro-teacher, but I have experience and background in other things that you have to know as a state representative so you can do the job, he said.

Education is not the entire problem. There are other things that have to be fixed to keep from draining dollars from education, he said.