COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – Missouri lawmakers on Friday passed a stripped-down budget for the upcoming fiscal year amid a steep drop in revenues because of the havoc the coronavirus has wreaked on the economy.Lawmakers managed to spare public K-12 schools and colleges and universities from major cuts in the final version of the budget. But spending for many new government programs is gone, and state agencies face close to $160 million in core budget cuts.
It’s unclear if $700 million in planned cuts to the original budget draft will even be enough, said Sen. Dan Hegeman, the Senate’s budget leader. He told senators on Friday that he expects lawmakers to be called back to work later this year to make adjustments.
State lawmakers earlier this year agreed to cut $700 million from Gov. Mike Parson’s original budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, which was based on rosier revenue projections before the coronavirus pandemic.
House lawmakers had planned on cutting state funding for public higher education by 10% next year in an attempt to balance the budget.
But House and Senate negotiators on Thursday scraped together more than $13 million to keep funding for community colleges stable. Lawmakers also agreed to pad the budget with federal dollars so four-year schools will get stable funding if Congress sends the state more financial aid.
The negotiated spending plan still needs to be approved by the full House and Senate.
Lawmakers last week returned to the Capitol after weeks off over concerns about spreading COVID-19 in a rush to pass a budget by their Friday deadline. That entailed completely revamping the budget, although it’s unclear if lawmakers’ planned $700 million in cuts will be enough.
Haug said the impact of the coronavirus on the state economy hasn’t been fully realized yet. He said May revenues likely will be a better indication of the state of Missouri’s economy after the virus shuttered businesses and spiked unemployment.
Some Democrats had argued for delaying work on the budget until later in hopes of getting a better picture of the state’s economy.
The governor is responsible for making further cuts if the state doesn’t get enough money to fully fund the budget approved by lawmakers.
The next fiscal year begins July 1.
Also on Thursday, House lawmakers voted in favor of exempting federal stimulus checks sent to individuals from state taxes. If enacted, that would mean Missouri taxpayers would each keep about $50.
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