Lawmaker wants fuel tax break for schoolsAfter spending 20 years balancing school budgets, state Rep. Maynard Wallace says it's time to exempt public schools from paying the state's motor fuel tax to fill the tanks of school buses

.Chad Livengood for Springfield News-Leader Wallace, an Ozark County Republican, is sponsoring legislation for 2009 session that would exempt taxpayer-supported schools from paying this tax. Schools are already exempted from paying federal highway taxes on diesel fuel for buses. The tax rate is 17.3 cents per gallon. "We're paying taxes with tax money," said Wallace, who spent 20 years as the superintendent at the Forsyth and Ava school districts. "It just rubs me wrong, especially when the feds don't require (schools) to pay that." This will mark the fourth straight year Wallace and other lawmakers have pursued the legislation, House Bill 87, which is being co-sponsored by southwest Missouri Reps. Ward Franz, David Sater, Jim Viebrock and Dennis Wood. Wallace said eliminating the tax would relieve school districts across the state of $3 million in expenses. But it would leave that much of a hole in the Missouri Department of Transportation's budget, which lawmakers say could be a tough sell given that MoDOT is facing a projected budget multimillion-dollar deficit next year because of declining gasoline usage and new vehicle sales. Wallace represents Ozark County and rural parts of Howell, Stone and Taney counties. Across his district, small schools often provide the fabric for their communities. "My little schools do a great job of educating children," he said. "I know they struggle financially to break even each year." To address funding inequalities for small rural schools, Wallace is planning to pursue legislation that would appropriate $5 million more to be split among tiny school districts of 350 students or less. "It's not going to totally solve it, but it's going to help give the small schools a little bit more money," he said. Wallace is co-sponsoring 17 other bills dealing with a range of issues, from providing more money for smoking cessation to establishing an online registry of convicted methamphetamine users and dealers. He also is one of four co-sponsors of House Bill 26, which would prohibit a person driving a vehicle while talking on a cell phone unless they use a hands-free listening device, like a headset or Bluetooth technology. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Joe Smith of St. Charles, would exempt emergency personnel, wreckers and commercial truck drivers. Wallace has signed on to sponsor House Bill 30, which would require the state Department of Social Services to screen and test welfare recipients for drug use, and House Bill 27, a proposal to let veterans deduct their entire military pension from their taxable income tax bill. -- http://MissouriNetizen.com http://www.bransonedge.com http://www.bransonmissouri.missourinetizen.com