NEWS CLIPS

Blunt’s Dubious Attack on Judges

Resolution would put unreasonable restrictions on authority to rule on tax questions

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt is having another frustrating year.

His plan to finance a campus construction program is marooned in the legislature. A "priority" bill to send some students to private schools on tax-funded scholarships sank several weeks ago.

With elections a little more than a year and a half away, Blunt needs something besides his lackluster record to talk about.

Well, there’s always the judges.

They seem to be the governor’s favorite target. He often criticizes "renegade" jurists who overstep their bounds, though he never provides instances of that actually happening in Missouri.

Blunt now is pushing a resolution intended to place unreasonable restrictions on judicial authority to rule on tax questions.

He and top Republican legislative leaders want voters to approve a constitutional amendment with the new restrictions in November 2008.

Politically, the advantages are obvious. Railing about judges could rally the conservative base at the same time Missourians vote on the next governor’s race.

But in its impact on the state, the proposed amendment would be destructive. Legal experts say its language could be interpreted to prevent state courts from ruling in disputes between taxing jurisdictions, and even in lawsuits brought by citizens challenging assessment rates.

House Speaker Rod Jetton, from Marble Hill, and Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, from St. Louis County, also support the measure.

They cite rulings in other states, including Kansas, in which courts said more money was needed to fulfill constitutional requirements that children receive an adequate and equitable education.

Blunt is attempting to confuse the public by declaring that judges in those cases ordered tax increases. Actually, the courts left it to legislators to determine funding sources. Kansas lawmakers did so without raising taxes.

School funding cases are brought by citizens and school boards. It’s troubling that Missouri’s leaders would seek to deny them the right to seek legal remedies if they believe children are being shortchanged.

The House has approved a resolution to place a constitutional amendment on the 2008 ballot. It’s especially disappointing that Gibbons, a lawyer, has said he’ll back the measure in the Senate.

Instead of insinuating that the state’s judges would overstep their bounds, Blunt and legislative leaders should pay more attention to their own branches of government.

Good leadership and good laws would make a much better campaign platform than dubious attacks on judges.