The General Assembly’s 2009 legislative session resumes next Monday following the annual spring break, and lawmakers face the task of completing work on the budget. Senator Kevin Engler (R-Farmington), the Senate Majority Floor Leader, says lawmakers are going to have to put together a budget without knowing how much federal stimulus money Missouri will receive.
"We don’t know if we’ve got money to complete mental health," says Engler. "We don’t know if we’re going to have to close down some agencies. We don’t if we’re going to have make huge cuts in services and education or higher education."
Engler says lawmakers are having a tough time dealing with the unknown.
"The federal government hasn’t even written the rules to apply for it yet," says Engler. "So, it’s very difficult to budget that money when you don’t even know what the rules or the strings attached are going to be."