MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
JEFFERSON CITY - Legislators and state officials are calling it the worst budget crisis for Missouri in decades. For the first time that the state's budget office can document, the administration is projecting an actual decrease in state General Revenue collections for the next fiscal year, that begins July 1.
Already, the economic slowdown and recession has forced the administration to trim this fiscal year's budget by more than $600 million and eliminate some 700 staff positions.
The budget Gov. Bob Holden proposed to the legislature includes sweeping cuts in most parts of state government, including colleges and universities, social services and transportation. The governor and many legislators say their first priority is to avoid cuts in elementary and secondary education. But other legislators say they would accept small cuts to education so that other programs would not need to be eliminated.
If use of the state's reserve, or Rainy Day Fund, passes, it would be the first time the state has tapped an emergency reserve fund since the floods of 1993.
Many legislators are crying foul over the governor's proposal to use $135 million from the fund. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to using Missouri's reserve fund is that it must pass both the House and Senate by a two-thirds vote.
The budget proposed by the governor would cut spending $612 million if use of the reserve fund does not pass the legislature. If use of the Rainy Day Fund passes, the budget will be reduced by $480 million.
Rep. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, said most people don't realize just how bad the budget situation is.
"The governor's budget is the best-case scenario," he said. "It can only get worse."
Many legislators have said they are skeptical that use of the Rainy Day Fund will pass. House Budget Committee Chairman Tim Green, D-St. Louis County, sent a memorandum to members of the appropriations and budget committees, asking them to recommend budget cuts more extensive than what the governor had proposed, in case use of the fund does not pass.
"The cuts I'm asking you to recommend are painful, difficult and not politically popular," Green's memo said.
State Budget Director Brian Long said net general revenue collections are above what had been projected in December, but have begun falling again lately. The state is still projecting net general revenue collected for this year to be down 0.6 percent by the end of the fiscal year in June.
"January came down (from December) a lot quicker than we expected," Long said.
Rep. Glenda Kelly, D-St. Joseph, who chairs the House Corrections Appropriations Committee, said almost all of the corrections department budget comes from general revenue. That means corrections' budget will likely need to be cut if use of the Rainy Day Fund does not pass.
Kelly said her main priorities even in light of the tough budget include opening the new state prison in Bonne Terre, at least somewhat, if not to full capacity.
House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, issued a challenge this week to his Republican counterparts, asking for their help in formulating a budget. But Catherine Hanaway, Republican floor leader from St. Louis County, said her party would need more time than Kreider wanted to give her.
The budget still needs to be passed by both houses of the legislature and then signed by the governor before it becomes official.