Governor Holden is responding to a budget challenge issued by the new Speaker of the Missouri House. House Speaker Catherine Hanaway has asked Governor Holden not to send legislators a budget that balances only through tax increases, expansions in gambling, and borrowing from the Rainy Day Fund. Holden says he wants to work with the Republican-controlled House and Senate to solve Missouri’s budget problems, but he wants to hear something positive coming out of the Legislature. Holden says Hanaway and others can best help the state by offering ideas as to the actions that should be taken, not warning as to actions they feel should not be taken. Holden believes he’ll have a good working relationship with the Legislature as he and lawmakers produce an agenda for the state. He says that agenda must include protection for education and health care and must establish the right environment for job creation.
