Legislator: Sen. Josh McKoon cost CSU, Infantry Museum state budget funding
Columbus State University and the National Infantry Museum lost funding in the most recent state budget because of the divisive actions of Republican Sen. Josh McKoon, according to a senior member of the local General Assembly delegation.
“You can only stick a stick in somebody’s eye so long before enough is enough,” Rep. Richard Smith said late Monday afternoon. “They are going to give it to somebody who has been supportive.”
McKoon just finished his sixth year in the General Assembly. He has been at odds this session with Republican Speaker of House David Ralston and Gov. Nathan Deal. At one point, McKoon introduced legislation to limit the term of the speaker but pulled it when the Senate leadership asked. For the last three sessions, McKoon has been pushing religious liberty legislation. A compromised version of that effort passed the House and the Senate in the session that ended last week. Deal vetoed that bill Monday.
“If Richard couldn’t get the House to sustain the position, whose fault is that? It’s not my fault,” McKoon said of the budget. “My job is to advocate for the budget position in the Senate. That’s the way it works. … This just sounds to me like Richard feels like he got thrown under the bus last week and now he thinks it’s my turn.”
McKoon was referring to a statement by Rep. Debbie Bucker, D-Junction City, in which she said that Smith, a Republican, was the delegation member responsible for the $8 million in construction funding for two projects on the main campus.
The governor included $2 million in the budget he presented the General Assembly. Columbus State requested the additional $6 million, and it was approved by the Board of Regents, which governs the University System. The House and Senate each put almost $3 million in their versions of the budget, and the respective bodies approved both. The funding was taken out in a House/Senate budget conference committee on the next-to-last legislative day. Both bodies then approved the revised budget without the Columbus State funding.
Smith pointed out that half of the funding was in the original Senate budget and half was in the original House budget.
“We lost all of that in conference,” Smith said. “We lost the House half and the Senate half, too.”
Smith outlined two high-level meetings in which he was told that McKoon’s behavior was an issue and it was going to cost the Columbus region state funding.
The first meeting happened in January, Smith said. The leadership team of the National Infantry Museum met with Deal to ask the state to put up $2 million toward the construction of a memorial for the Global War on Terror.
“The governor and his chief of staff made it clear they were not giving any money and the reason was Sen. McKoon,” Smith said.
Two weeks ago, Ralston’s Chief of Staff Spiro Amburn came to Smith’s legislative office and told him the Columbus State funding was coming out of the budget, Smith said. The reason given was McKoon’s actions in the General Assembly, Smith said.
“He said the remaining $6 million was going to be taken out,” Smith said. “The governor’s staff told him if the money was left in, the governor was going to do a line-item veto.”
Asked if he told McKoon about either of the meetings, Smith said he did not.
“And I regret that,” he said. “… I would think somebody who has been as critical of the governor would know that his actions have consequences. … These things have consequences and everybody and their brother knows it. Josh is a big boy, and he knows his actions and votes have consequences.”
Smith should have come to him after those meetings, McKoon said.
“And if they happened the way that they were described, it was unbelievably irresponsible for Richard not to pick up the phone and call me and tell me what was going on,” McKoon said. “... I would have taken steps to make sure that the funding was secure. Again, what I’ve been told, is at odds with what Richard is saying Spiro Amburn said weeks ago.
McKoon said he followed the budget process carefully and was told by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jack Hill, one of the conference committee members, the money was being pulled because it would not be needed until the next fiscal year and there were more pressing needs in the University System.
The Speaker of the House would not mention McKoon by name during an interview late Monday, but it was clear from his remarks he was talking about the Columbus senator.
“There is a political component here — and I am not talking about party,” Ralston said. “The budget process involves the House, the Senate, the governor’s office, and in this case the Board of Regents. Showing a cooperative spirit is part of that political component. If you are constantly tearing things apart, it can have repercussions in these areas.”
McKoon had issues with Ralston’s legislative counsel Terry Chastain during the session and openly called for the speaker to fire his top lawyer. McKoon said Chastain approached him during the session in front of Senate pages and cursed and yelled at him, acting in an unprofessional manner. This incident happened before Smith’s meeting with the speaker’s chief of staff, Smith said.
Asked if this was specifically about McKoon, Ralston was careful with his words.
“I am not going to name names, but I know there are members of the legislative delegation who come to the Capitol to help the community and there are some who come to the Capitol and refuse to pull together with other members of the delegation and they are obstacles to getting things done,” Ralston said by phone. “You have two of the finest members in the General Assembly in Richard Smith and Calvin Smyre. Richard is a rock.
“... It is not just about me or the House membership. It is relationships throughout the Capitol. It is with other House members, other senators and even the governor’s office.”
When asked about Smith’s assertion that the funding was taken out because of McKoon’s actions, the governor’s chief of staff, Chris Riley issued the following statement:
“Rep. Smith was a principle advocate on behalf of Columbus State,” Riley’s statement read. “His cooperative spirit has generated goodwill on his behalf from members of the General Assembly. However, there are other needs within the university system considered to be a higher priority by the governor.”
Part of the money intended for Columbus State was redirected to Dalton State College, Smith said he was told.
Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth, was on the joint conference committee and said that what happened was not unusual since part of the construction was funded by the General Assembly last year.
"Typically, we fund planning and engineering in one fiscal year and construction in the next,” said Shafer, president pro tem of the Senate. “In conference, we realized that we were funding both items for the Columbus State University project. We removed the construction funds but the planning and engineering will still be done."
The decision was about funding not personalities, Shafer said.
"Sen. McKoon has his admirers and detractors, but we try to look beyond personalities in our stewardship of tax dollars,” Shafer said. “Columbus State has strong support in the General Assembly, and I expect that to continue."
The loss of the state funding comes as Columbus State has raised $70 million as part of a $100 million capital campaign. Part of that effort is funding a $25 million College of Education and Health Professions under construction in downtown Columbus. That building will be given to the University System when it is complete.
The final budget did include $100,000 for the National Infantry Museum, but Smith said he expected the governor to veto that.
Smyre, a Columbus Democratic state representative, just finished his 42nd year in the General Assembly, and when Democrats controlled the state house, he was instrumental in the budgeting process.
“I have been at the table in the budget process and politics can get in the way of the budget,” Smyre said. “In all of my years in the General Assembly, this may be the most complex situation I have seen because surly politics entered into the fray on this one.”
Smyre said he learned of the situation a few days before the session ended.
“I was informed by Rep. Richard Smith and a budget conferee that the CSU funding would not be included in the Budget Conference Committee report because of harsh comments attributed to a member of our legislative delegation regarding the governor,” Smyre said.
“You can’t go out of your way to antagonize the governor and speaker of the House and expect funding in the state budget. As a former budget conferee, I can tell you that it doesn’t work that way. There are consequences to your actions.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2016 at 9:16 PM with the headline "Legislator: Sen. Josh McKoon cost CSU, Infantry Museum state budget funding."