Even as some candidates for governor suggest improving Missouri's transportation system by using funds constitutionally mandated for the Highway Patrol, Senate Appropriations Chairman Kurt Schaefer worries those proposals would hurt Patrol operations.
"I think we need to look at the overall transportation "fix,'" Schaefer, R-Columbia, said Thursday afternoon. "There are a lot of aspects to road safety.
"One is, that you actually have a physical pavement that is safe.
"The other is, that you have law enforcement on that road, keeping that road safe."
That's why the state Constitution uses the state road fund for the Patrol, he said, adding he believes the changes would jeopardize public safety on the highways.
Schaefer said another issue is the idea of using general revenue funds to pay for all Highway Patrol operations.
In the current business year, which ends June 30, the Patrol's Highway Fund receipts are $229,638,044 - 70.8 percent of the agency's total appropriated budget.
Schaefer noted that money would have to come from somewhere if the current Highway Fund money is used only for roads.
"If we had (an extra) $230 million in general revenue right now, we'd spend it on roads," he explained. "That's a difficult prospect, to find that $230 million."
Schaefer is term-limited this year, and won't be part of a future Legislature that would have to find general revenue money for the Patrol if Missouri voters approved the proposed money shift.
So he declined to speculate where lawmakers might find that money.
"That's a lot of hypotheticals," he said. "The public would have to make their decision" to change the Missouri Constitution so the funding shift could occur.
"And I'm assuming the public would do their duty and would look at the pros and cons on both sides," Schaefer added. "I think the issue of whether or not Missouri's highways would continue to be safe - from a law enforcement standpoint - is something they would look at.
"A lot would have to happen before we got to that point."