DRUG, EDUCATION PLANS COST MONEY, GOVERNOR

Last week, Gov. Ernie Fletcher unveiled a treatment-oriented plan for
helping Kentucky kick its illegal drug habit.

Good. I'm with the governor in believing treatment of drug addicts is
preferable to just throwing them in the slammer.

Last week, Fletcher also provided the broad outlines of a "second
generation of systemic refinement" that builds on the education
reforms of the 1990s.

Good. I'm with governor in believing we can do more, much more, for
education in Kentucky.

Where I part company with the governor, though, is his apparent belief
that all aspects of both new initiatives can be funded adequately by
the Efficiency Fairy.

Start with the administration's plans for fighting drug
abuse.

The task force recommendations include creating an Office of Drug
Control Policy to coordinate state efforts, more treatment services,
more drug courts, expanded treatment programs in prisons and more
state resources for local prosecutors with heavy loads of drug cases.

The task force also recommended paying for all this by raising the
cigarette tax an additional 3 cents to 9 cents a pack, which would
generate $20 million to $60 million in extra revenue.

Fletcher apparently embraces all of the task force proposals -- except
the last one. He insists that any cigarette tax increase be part of a
broader revenue-neutral tax reform.

Revenue-neutral, as in no extra money. Revenue-neutral, as in just let
the Efficiency Fairy take care of it.

Fletcher described his education initiative as more of a vision than a
plan at the moment. Still, there were some specific needs mentioned.

They included expanded preschool, all-day kindergarten, better teacher
training, higher teacher salaries, additional testing and expanded
university research labs.

Great! Let's do it all. But send the bill to good ol'
EF.

A slight problem there, though, is that good ol' EF may have to use
all his fairy dust to plug a Medicaid deficit the size of some small
nations' gross national product.

Oh, wait, I forgot. In addition to the Efficiency Fairy, we'll have
the extra revenue from all the increased economic activity the state
will see as a result of Fletcher's tax modernization plan -- assuming,
of course, the plan ever gets enacted.

As I recall, Fletcher estimated that the extra revenue during the
first biennium the tax plan is in effect would be a whopping $12 million.

Now, behind that hidden door that leads to Cuckooland, $12 million
added to what little ol' EF has left over after fixing the Medicaid
hole may look like enough to pay for everything the governor proposes.

Out here in the real world, though, treatment programs, drug courts,
all-day kindergarten, higher teachers' salaries, expanded university
labs and the other things Fletcher proposes cost more than such chump
change.

Our differences over the cost of these programs aside, it's heartening
to see Fletcher offering some good, sound initiatives, even if the
education one remains in the formative stage.

I was beginning to wonder if his vision for Kentucky was limited to
tax modernization and eradicating tattoos and piercings.

A sandwich of an Olympics between two political conventions makes for
a lot of televised boredom.

But if the alternative is the totally unreal "reality" shows that
dominate the boob tube these days, I'll take seconds on the sandwich.

Oops!

As an alert reader quickly pointed out, I mistakenly cited Romans
2:26-32 in Sunday's column when I actually meant Romans 1:26-32.

Pardon the brain lock.