The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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March 18, 2010

In our view: Small change

It’s like digging through the couch cushions looking for quarters and dimes, but it’s an exercise we can all appreciate.

Missouri lawmakers are scrambling for extra cash in order to fill a $500 million gap in the proposed budget. Among the cuts being considered: no more free coffee or bottled water, no more reimbursement for using their personal cell phones to conduct state business, and cutting back on lawmakers’ official out-of-state travel.

It’s estimated that $25,000 in taxpayer money is being spent just in the House to pay for coffee and bottled water. Scrapping cell phone reimbursement in the House will save $55,000. Sure, we know this is a drop in the bucket, but when Missouri voters are doing without, there’s a certain expectation that officeholders should also share some pain.

More brainstorming is on the way. Senators have been divided into groups, with each group being asked to come up with five reasonable ideas. And the governor has called for consolidating the Department of Higher Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education into one agency, and combining the State Highway Patrol and the State Water Patrol into a single law enforcement agency. Good ideas. Less bureaucracy usually means less expense.

We’re bracing ourselves for the cuts that will allow the state to keep paying the bills. Those, we’re sure, won’t be so palatable.

In the meantime, that cup of coffee will be $1.

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