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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

New Year, New Budget Challenges in MO

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Tuesday, December 30, 2008   

Jefferson City, MO — When Governor-elect Jay Nixon takes office in two weeks, his biggest job will be to trim the fat from an already lean Missouri budget. He faces a projected $342 million shortfall, while trying to keep good on campaign promises, including restoring Medicaid funding that had been cut, and improving education.

Missouri's fiscal year ends June 30; the state constitution requires the governor to balance the budget by then. Nixon says tax credits, state construction projects and long-term government contracts will be the first to go. He will also require a "top-to-bottom review" of every state agency and major program to reduce expenditures and consider potential consolidation.

State Representative Margaret Donnelly is a member of the Governor-elect's transition team, as one of two Deputy Directors for Agency Review. She says this year will be tough enough, but 2010 will be a bear.

"We are going to need strong, bipartisan effort to successfully handle what 2010 brings, because we know that revenue will not be where we had originally anticipated."

The Missouri Budget Project predicts a budget shortfall of $900 million dollars in the next fiscal year, and groups that depend on state revenue are increasingly nervous about the looming budget cuts. While the Governor's office cannot confirm the 2010 shortfall amount, Donnelly acknowledges it will be significant. In her view, it's time the state sticks together.

"We know that we haven't seen an economic downturn like this in decades and so, we are all part of finding the solution that makes sure all Missourians are moving forward to better days."

The shortfall will make it more difficult for Nixon to follow through on two of his chief campaign proposals. However, Donnelly says Nixon plans to keep his pledges to restore the Medicaid funding cut in 2005, and to expand college scholarships.


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