JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -
Gov. Jay Nixon is vetoing $105 million from Missouri's budget and restricting the expenditure of an additional $325 million as the state faces declining revenues.
A summary of Nixon's proposed budget cuts was obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday before a scheduled Capitol news conferencing announcing the reductions.
Legislators passed a $23 billion operating budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, plus a two-year, $600 million capital improvements bill that includes various projects funded with federal stimulus money.
Nixon's spending reductions hit both the operating and capital improvements bills. The cuts come as Missouri's tax revenues have declined by more than state officials had forecast.
According to the document summarizing Nixon's budget actions, the line-item vetoes include portions of the money budgeted for a new emergency responder radio system, college construction projects, ethanol plants subsidies and a Medicaid rate increase for dentists. Also being vetoed is funding for a new highway interchange in Jefferson City that lawmakers said was necessary to help redevelop the site of the former Missouri State Penitentiary. Line-item vetoes eliminate the spending authority for particular programs in the state budget. But governors can also leave items in the budget and withhold or delay the actual release of money when the state faces financial difficulties.
The summary says Nixon is planning $60 million in expenditure restrictions on state salaries, agencies, contracts and grants. Also on hold is $50 million for a new state incentive fund for high-tech battery makers, about $48 million in maintenance and repair for state building and a $21.5 million rate increase for in-home care providers.
Various projects at veterans homes and the Department of Natural Resources also were placed in the category of restricted expenditures, as were about $91 million worth of college construction projects that escaped a straight veto.
Legislators passed a $23 billion operating budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, plus a two-year, $600 million capital improvements bill that includes various projects funded with federal stimulus money.
Nixon's spending reductions hit both the operating and capital improvements bills. The cuts come as Missouri's tax revenues have declined by more than state officials had forecast.
According to the document summarizing Nixon's budget actions, the line-item vetoes include portions of the money budgeted for a new emergency responder radio system, college construction projects, ethanol plants subsidies and a Medicaid rate increase for dentists. Also being vetoed is funding for a new highway interchange in Jefferson City that lawmakers said was necessary to help redevelop the site of the former Missouri State Penitentiary. Line-item vetoes eliminate the spending authority for particular programs in the state budget. But governors can also leave items in the budget and withhold or delay the actual release of money when the state faces financial difficulties.
The summary says Nixon is planning $60 million in expenditure restrictions on state salaries, agencies, contracts and grants. Also on hold is $50 million for a new state incentive fund for high-tech battery makers, about $48 million in maintenance and repair for state building and a $21.5 million rate increase for in-home care providers.
Various projects at veterans homes and the Department of Natural Resources also were placed in the category of restricted expenditures, as were about $91 million worth of college construction projects that escaped a straight veto.
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