Mo. Governor Cuts $280M; Education Takes Big Hit
Missouri Gov. Nixon cuts $280 million; school busing, college scholarships among hardest hit
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. June 17, 2010 (AP)
Education took a big hit Thursday in Missouri's latest round of budget cuts as Gov. Jay Nixonhalved busing aid to public schools and significantly reduced college scholarships for the upcoming academic year.
Other cuts will affect people with chronic health problems, the mentally ill, the disabled who receive in-home services and developers who depend on state tax credits. An additional 255 state jobs will be eliminated, raising the total to about 2,500 positions since January 2009.
Nixon said the cuts are necessary because Missouri's tax revenues have continued to fall short of projections, and because legislators failed to pass several moneysaving measures that had been assumed in their $23.3 billion budget.
Nixon signed the budget Thursday, allowing it to take effect July 1. But he announced about $300 million of reductions in general revenue expenses, including about $280 million in state program cuts and $20 million that will be offset by increased federal funding.
The cuts for the 2011 fiscal year come in addition to about $900 million in budget cuts enacted during the 2010 fiscal year that runs through June 30.
"Some might say we've been belt-tightening," Nixon said. "We may have had to punch another hole in the belt this time."
State lawmakers, education officials and advocacy groups reacted with a mixture of outrage and understanding.
"Gov. Nixon dealt tens of thousands of students from working and low-income Missouri families a devastating blow" by cutting scholarships, the Independent Colleges and Universities of Missouri said in quickly released statement.
The Missouri School Boards' Association expressed gratitude that Nixon didn't cut any of the $3 billion of basic aid to public schools. But "more kids may end up needing to walk to school or
