McKoon: If allegations are true, Smith should report them to authorities

Two days after a key member of the Columbus legislative delegation said funding for two local institutions was cut out of the state budget as political payback, Sen. Josh McKoon is not backing down.

McKoon said Wednesday if the governor or Speaker of the House denied state funding as political retribution for McKoon’s actions, Rep. Richard Smith should go to the U.S. Attorney’s Office with that information and call for a complete investigation.

[Legislator: Sen. Josh McKoon cost CSU, Infantry Museum state budget funding]

“If I had been told what he said he was told, I would certainly be talking to the appropriate authorities,” McKoon said. “If that truly happened, that is absolutely what he should do. Crimes could have been committed. … Let them sort it out.”

On Wednesday, Smith he would not go to the U.S. Attorney’s Office or any other law enforcement entity.

“I don’t think anything criminal happened at all here —this was all politics,” Smith said.

Columbus State University and the National Infantry Museum lost funding in the most recent state budget because of McKoon’s divisive actions in the General Assembly, Smith told the Ledger-Enquirer on Monday.

McKoon has been at odds with Republican Speaker of House David Ralston and Gov. Nathan Deal — all three men are Republicans. McKoon has been at the forefront of the push for religious liberties legislation that passed the General Assembly in the most recent session and was vetoed by Deal on Monday. McKoon has had a rocky history with Deal and Ralston throughout the senator’s six-year legislative stint.

At one point, McKoon introduced legislation to limit the term of the speaker but pulled it when the Senate leadership asked. He also has introduced legislation to take away the governor’s ability to appoint a U.S. senator should their be a mid-term vacancy. Neither of those bills gained any momentum.

In a Ledger-Enquirer story published Monday, 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.”

Smith said he did not inform McKoon of either meeting.

“If what he said is true, it is unbelievable that we have such petty, short-sighted people in power in this state,” McKoon said. “It is disturbing.”

Columbus State lost $8 million in funding for two main campus construction projects. The National Infantry Museum requested $2 million in state funds toward a Global War on Terror memorial. The final budget included $100,000 for that project. Smith has said he expects Deal to veto that.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 12:26 PM with the headline "McKoon: If allegations are true, Smith should report them to authorities."