Thursday, March 24, 2005
Contact: Spence Jackson, (573)751-0290
Blunt Details $239.2 Million in Budget Reductions for FY 2006 Education Funding Protected, No Tax Increases on Missouri Families
JEFFERSON CITY— Governor Matt Blunt today announced more than $239 million dollars in specific budget reductions and program eliminations across the board from state general revenue funds as part of his proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 budget. These are in addition to the $1.1 billion dollars in state and federal funds reductions he announced shortly after taking office. The actions taken by Blunt will keep the state’s $19.1 billion FY 2006 budget balanced.
In the budget he submitted to the Missouri General Assembly in January, Blunt included a line item enabling him to make budget adjustments at a later date.
Blunt’s proposal increases his previously recommended permanent reductions to state general revenue to $601 million. In honor of the commitments he has made to Missourians, there are no funding reductions for Missouri’s public schools, no new taxes or increases on existing taxes on working families.
The governor spread the reductions across several state agencies. Blunt’s proposed $170.6 million funding increase for Missouri schools for FY 2006 remains unchanged as are budgeted appropriations this year for all Missouri colleges and universities.
"Our state continues to suffer from past poor spending decisions and anemic general revenue growth," Blunt said. "The actions I am taking today were made with careful thought and analysis and compliment the priorities of mainstream Missourians to increase funding for our classrooms, hold the line on job-killing taxes and to ask state government to do more with less before we ask taxpayers to do more with less."
"These are priorities that I share and that I have advocated as a candidate and as governor. I look forward to working with the members of the General Assembly in the weeks ahead to finalize a state budget that lives within the people’s means and mandates responsible stewardship of tax dollars."
Failure to accept Blunt’s proposed budget reductions would require Missouri taxpayers to shoulder a $601 million shortfall in the state budget. That is equal to raising the state income tax rate by more than 13 percent which on average could add more than $308 for every Missouri family.
Here is a list of the $239 million in detailed budget reductions Blunt has made by department for FY 2006:
Elementary and Secondary Education: $709,000. No reductions in dollars budgeted for Missouri classrooms.
Higher Education: $4.6 million. No reductions in funds budgeted for the operation of Missouri’s colleges and universities.
Revenue: $5.9 million MODOT: $6.5 million
Office of Administration: $5.8 million Agriculture: $1.9 million
Natural Resources: $2.3 million Economic Development: $10.5 million
Labor and Industrial Relations: $686,000 Public Safety: $3.4 million
Corrections: $16.5 million Mental Health: $16.7 million
Health: $15.1 million Social Services: $94.2 million
Information Technology Consolidation: $2.6 million
Statewide leasing: $1.8 million
Other budget actions include a projected $30 million rebate in the State Pharmacy Assistance Program and $20 million in FY 2005 lapse resulting from the early implementation of these budget reductions.
Blunt’s reductions will result in the elimination of 1,274 full-time state funded positions in addition to the 1,456 called for when his budget was initially submitted. 1,064 of these positions are currently filled, 210 are vacant however, many state employees whose positions are eliminated will be eligible for vacancies in other departments that remain open. To increase funds available for FY 2006 many of these program reductions, including job eliminations, will be implemented in the next 30 days.