Updated at 4:21 and 5:14 p.m.
JEFFERSON CITY | House Speaker Ron Richard said on national television this afternoon that federal officials have warned Missouri lawmakers against a plan to use federal stimulus dollars for a tax cut.
Then, in a conversation with a reporter later in the afternoon, he said no one from Washington had contacted his office, a statement that has since been affirmed by staffers at the Capitol.
Richard, a Joplin Republican, made the remarks in an appearance on the Fox News program Your World.
"We've got a message from the OMB, the vice president, they don't like it," Richard said in the TV interview. "They say it's illegal and we're going anyway."
The OMB is the federal Office of Management and Budget, which crafts the president's budget plans.
House Republicans yesterday announced a plan to cut the state income tax rate by a half-percent for the next two years, and to fill in the resulting drop in state revenue with $1 billion in federal stimulus funds.
Reached for comment this afternoon, Richard clarified that he hadn't actually heard from the OMB or Vice President Joe Biden.
Rather, he talked to a St. Louis reporter last night, who said he thought the administration officials might find the plan illegal.
Richard has since directed the House lawyer, Don Lograsso, to look into the plan's legality. If it doesn't meet the letter of the law, he said, lawmakers will not pursue it.
"As of today, we're standing firm on the tax cut," Richard said.
Good for Them
Good of them to stand firm on that state tax cut. These guys have a good handle on their priorities. I just hope they don't fall in a pothole on the highway on the way to Jefferson City to vote on the tax cut. Meanwhile, I'll do my best not to spend all of my 1/2% tax cut on one trip to McDonald's.