A Jefferson City judge is considering a couple of cases that could lead to the diminishing of the General Assembly’s authority to appropriate budgetary funds.
Attorney Dick Miller is the plaintiffs’ attorney in both cases. In the first, Miller represents two Kansas City area residents – Thomas and Margaret Redmond – who claim the state is reneging on a requirement that it spend 25 percent of tobacco settlement money for a trust for medical research, which he says is not being done.
Opponents claim the money is being put aside for medical research. They add the Legislature is not required to place that money into medical research considered controversial – such as embryonic stem cell research.
The other case involves a challenge over a claim the Legislature is not providing enough funding for the arts as required by statutes.