ST. CHARLES   •   Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday urged legislators to restore Missouri Senate cuts of $21 million in federal emergency response grants, saying "the time for their need could not be any more clear."
Nixon, speaking at a statewide conference of emergency management officials, cited last week's Boston terrorist attack and Texas fertilizer plant explosion as reminders of the kinds of disasters that agencies must prepare for.
He added that such grants paid for light towers that allowed recent sandbagging efforts to continue at night to protect Clarksville from Mississippi River flooding.
"We don't waste these dollars," he said. "This is not political; it should not be controversial."
The Senate made the cuts Monday night as it passed a $25 billion state spending plan; it now goes to a House-Senate conference committee.
People are also reading…
The cuts and others were made amid an ongoing controversy over the state Revenue Department's handling of private information.
The Senate appropriations chairman - Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia - says the money for the state Public Safety Department was trimmed because senators have been unable to get clear answers from the administration on what it's used for. Â
Other cuts were in federal funds that go to the Revenue Department.
Schaefer has said he anticipates issues will be resolved in the coming weeks as lawmakers work to finalize the state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Nixon, after his talk at the St. Charles Convention Center, told reporters that the emergency preparedness grants have nothing to do with the Revenue Department issue.
"It seems to me it's been a distraction (from) the major issues that need to get accomplished this session," Â the governor, a Democrat, said of that issue.
Meanwhile, Nixon said he would continue pressing the Legislature on Medicaid expansion despite the decision Wednesday by a key House member to drop his alternative proposal on the issue.
Nixon said if the Legislature this year does fail to expand the system and qualify the state for additional federal aid, the pressure for its passage will continue to build for future sessions.
"The opportunity does not end with the legislative session," he said.
Republicans say the Medicaid system is plagued with fraud, waste and abuse.
The alternative plan would expand eligibility for some Missourians but wouldn't have gone as far as the federal health care law calls for.
Elizabeth Crisp of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
Â
Â
