Think Tank Warns Missouri Faces Long-Term Budget Problems

A research organization that studies state budgets says Missouri faces long-term budget shortfalls because the system that finances state programs is structurally unsound. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says Missouri is at “high risk” of having a structural deficit between the needs of state programs and the tax revenue it raises to pay for them. Senior Fellow Liz McNichol says Missouri’s links of its tax structure to the federal tax structure hurts. She says 17 states and the District of Columbia have decoupled from the federal tax system and Missouri should, too. The Center says Missouri’s tax structure does not let it track the changes in the economy that affect spending.