Missouri Constitutional Amendment 3
Official ballot title and wording (proposed by initiative petition)

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to require that all revenues from the existing motor vehicle fuel tax (less collection costs) be used only for state and local highways, roads and bridges, and also require that vehicle taxes and fees paid by highway users be used only for constructing and maintaining the state highway system (less collection costs, refunds and highway patrol law enforcement costs), except that up to half of such vehicle taxes and fees, phased in over four years, will go into a state road bond fund to repay state highway bonds? The constitutional amendment has a zero net fiscal impact. The amendment increases funding for the Department of Transportation to be used for transportation purposes only and limits the use of highway user fee revenues by other state agencies. The indirect fiscal impact on state and local governments, if any, is unknown.

The League of Women Voters of Missouri opposes Constitutional Amendment 3 because it does not solve the revenue problems of Missouri. Specifically, it shifts revenue from the General Fund to a single agency and places it in a constitutional amendment that cannot be modified to meet future budgetary demands. It interferes with our system of checks and balances by avoiding the legislative process. This is not the kind of precedent we want to set for Missouri.

• It doesn’t solve the problems of needing more revenue. Switching money from one fund to the other is a short-term solution for a long-term problem. It temporarily adds funds to one area and creates losses to others.
• This shift of funds from General Revenue to new road construction leaves the General fund with millions less to use in the areas which have relied on it for decades. Until 1979 all the state sales tax on motor vehicles (as with all other consumer goods) went to the General Revenue Fund where it could be used for Missouri's most critical needs. Now General Revenue’s half of the sales tax moneys would be transferred to a State Road Bond Fund and could be used only to buy and repay bonds issued by the Highways and Transportation Commission. The bonds are to be used for new construction, not maintenance and repairs. An appointed commission would make the decision on the spending of these new highway funds.
• League views with alarm the inflexibility a constitutional amendment brings especially to matters of revenue and taxation. These items need to be in state statute, which allows for more flexibility. A constitutional amendment bypasses the legislative process.
• This amendment contains only 1% funding for alternate forms of transportation. Public transit is vital to the economic development of the state.

According to Amy Boulin, Executive Director of The Missouri Budget Project:
The Fiscal Year 2002 through 2004 fiscal crisis in Missouri resulted in significant core cuts to vital programs, totaling more that $1.3 billion dollars. As a result, the state enters FY 2005 with a series of unmet needs and program deficits in need of restoration:

• Missouri's school foundation formula is under funded by $600 million, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
• Higher Education cuts of $70 million have resulted in a $1,700 average tuition increase for Missouri's four-year institutions, as well as class consolidations and limiting of course offerings. The cuts and tuition increases affect 88,000 Missouri students.
• The Department of Mental Health has lost about $58.2 million in state general revenue as a result of the fiscal crisis. Nearly 600 jobs have been cut from the department, 4,000 developmentally disabled Missourians are on a waiting list for mental health care services, and 4,000 individuals lost mental health care services related to substance abuse.
• Significant cuts to Medicaid eligibility resulted in at least 37,000 less Missourians having access to healthcare; at the same time health care costs are increasing, and more Missourians may be turning to publicly-funded health care for their families.
• Furthermore, in the next decade, Missouri will start to see a dramatic increase in healthcare need for seniors entering retirement.
• In addition, should the Transportation Ballot Issue be approved by voters in November, this will result in additional loss to the General Revenue fund of between $160 - $180 million beginning in FY 2006.

Legislators and the public disagree regarding whether or not the full level of budget cuts should be restored. At minimum, the state would need more than $900 million to restore these few basic services to their pre-fiscal crisis programming level. Clearly, the anticipated $147.8 million growth in general revenue in FY 2005 will not be enough to meet this need. An additional cut to general revenue resulting from Amendment 3 would cause further harm.

The League of Women Voters of Missouri
October 15, 2005
For more information call (314) 961-6869