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Missouri budget cuts show heaviest impact on education

Declining revenues since March prompted Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to withhold hundreds of millions from the 2021 fiscal year budget which included cuts to universities and reductions to state money that went to K-12 schools.

NPR – In Missouri, declining revenues prompted Republican Gov. Mike Parson to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars from the 2021 fiscal year budget — which began on July 1. That included substantial cuts to universities and colleges, as well as reductions to state money that went to K-12 schools.

“COVID-19 is unlike anything we have ever experienced before,” Parson said in a statement. “As difficult as these decisions are, we are experiencing an unprecedented economic downturn, which meant we are having to make unprecedented adjustments in our budget.”

Parson also had to withhold money from the 2020 budget, which stretched from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020, because Missouri, like most states, must have a balanced budget every year. And voters in Missouri do not have an appetite for tax increases.

Some Democratic lawmakers pointed out that this all came several years after the GOP-controlled Legislature cut taxes — which they warned at the time could lead to longer-term consequences.