State Hopes Legislature Passes Tobacco Bill To Help Ease Budget Woes

The clock is ticking on state government’s hopes to avoid another $233-Million in budget cuts. The Holden Administration is betting the Legislature will pass a bill that will let the state sell off some of its proceeds from the national tobacco settlement and will do it in time to bring in money to prop up state services and institutions until the end of June. Lieutenant Governor Joe Maxwell, who sits on the commission likely to sell the tobacco bonds, doubts the Legislature will be finished with its work before March first, at best. He admits some legal issues could reduce the return Missouri gets from the sale of those proceeds but the state is not likely to know that until there are only about three months left in the fiscal year.