Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Stevenson votes to eliminate Special Olympics funding


Rep. Bryan Stevenson, R-Webb City, was one of 20 legislators to cast a vote Tuesday for a failed appropriations amendment which would have eliminated $50,000 in funding to buy lunches for Special Olympics participants.
It's impossible to tell what the vote was for if you read the House Journal, but the Springfield News-Leader covers the budget battle in an article published today.
The News-Leader quotes Stevenson as saying, "This is pork-barrel politics at its best. That is what this is. We do not pay for school lunches for football teams when they are out of town. We do not pay for school lunches for school bands when they are out of town."
Among those voting against the amendment were Joplin Republicans Steve Hunter, Ron Richard, and Marilyn Ruestman, Ed Emery, R-Lamar, and Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho.
The amendment was proposed by Rep. Kathlyn Fares, R-St. Louis.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shame on you, Rep. Stevenson. You would take away a free lunch from a kid who was mentally retarded? Have you accepted any free lunches from lobbyists? All I can say is that this is the most misguided piece of legislation I have ever seen.

Anonymous said...

You know, I never thought of it that way, and I'm not saying it should have been done, but I do see the point.