Governor Nixon outlines his legislative and budget package a week from today. Legislative leaders say they don’t want to hear any proposals for a budget that needs legislative action to be balanced.
State lawmakers have heard some proposed budgets that require the legislature to pass tax increase or pass other bills that affect state income in some way to keep income in line with spending. Those proposals have not gone over well with legislators. And they won’t fly with this year’s general assembly, either.
Senate leader Rob Mayer says the slow rebound of the economy demands a straightforward, no-contingency, budget blueprint from the governor.
Mayer is a former Senate appropriations chairman. He refuses to say what he would cut if he were in the governor’s shoes.
The governor’s proposal is only a suggestion. The legislature is not bound by what he recommends.
