Missouri’s next state budget year that begins in July is expected to face a revenue decline of about $419 million. Senate Majority Floor Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, thinks the projection of state revenue is very conservative – for good reason.
“I think FY 2022 is bad but not really bad. I think FY 2023 could be really bad,” says Rowden.
He tells Missourinet affiliate KFRU in Columbia that budget leaders are viewing the state’s finances through a two-year lens this time around because the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are still playing out.
“I don’t think either year is going to be fun. I don’t think we’re going to be handing out any money and building a bunch of new buildings or anything else,” he says. “But there are other variables that are kind of still out there that we don’t fully understand yet and so we’ll see what happens there. But the great thing about Missouri – we balance our budget. We are never in as bad of a financial position as 95% of the other states in the country because we balance our budget. It’s not fun to budget in the COVID era but the foundational stability of Missouri is functionally way better than most other states and frankly even better than a bunch of other conservative states.”
Missouri House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, tells Missourinet the state is in the “midst of the most trying economic times in a generation.” He expects one or two more rounds of federal stimulus money to be deployed between now and the spring.
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