Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt in his State of the State address said the state is strong and the economy is growing.

Blunt calls for education funding, immigration reform

SBJ Staff

Posted online January 20, 2008 | 11:00 pm

Gov. Matt Blunt in his State of the State address Jan. 15 pointed to his overhaul of the state’s finances and work force since taking office three years ago and laid out his initiatives for the coming year.

“We took our state from a budget crisis to three consecutive budget surpluses. We will not go back to the old way,” Blunt said in his address. “I am pleased to report our economy is growing, our schools are improving, our health care system has been transformed for the better, and, most importantly, because we have the strength of Missourians as our foundation: the state of our state is strong.”

If the General Assembly approves his budget this year, Blunt would have provided an additional $1.2 billion for education over four years. His budget recommendations this year call for a $121 million increase in funding for elementary and secondary schools, a $54.2 million increase in funding for colleges and universities, and $100 million for needs-based scholarships.

In the health care realm, Blunt in his address outlined his Insure Missouri plan that he says would reduce the number of uninsured Missourians by 200,000 by helping them purchase personal health insurance.

Blunt detailed his proposal to eliminate state taxes on veterans’ military retirement. He also called for action to stop excessive local property tax increases and recommended a constitutional amendment that would prevent unelected judges from raising taxes.

Blunt also urged the General Assembly to enact his illegal immigration directives, which include: new penalties for aiding illegal immigrants in obtaining driver’s licenses, forbidding local governments from hampering law enforcement efforts to uphold immigration law, banning “sanctuary cities,” stopping the use of illegal labor and exploitation of illegal immigrants, passing legislation making it a crime to transport illegal immigrants for exploitive purposes, requiring agencies to verify the legal status of applicants before providing welfare benefits, enacting stronger employment verification, punishing those who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and protecting those who fail in good faith from undue penalties.

The governor also asked lawmakers to:

• Ban lobbyist gifts for the executive branch;

• Make the Missouri Accountability Portal permanent to guarantee transparency;

• Increase autism funding;

• Provide new funding for veterans;

• Fully fund ethanol and biodiesel incentives;

• Create a B5 standard for biodiesel;

• Fund new audits to save energy;

• Create a weeklong Show Me Green tax holiday to eliminate sales taxes on Energy Star-certified efficient appliances;

• Fund cyber-crime task forces;

• Add sex offenders’ e-mail accounts to the sex offender registry;

• Make the rape of a Missouri child punishable by death; and