Foundation Formula Underfunded by $100 million

Missouri's general assembly has passed the 2011 fiscal year budget a week before deadline. The budget approved by the House and Senate cut $484 million from the initial version proposed by Gov. Jay Nixon in January. Nixon had previously said $500 million would need to be cut from his initial proposal, meaning the governor may be required to make additional cuts. One of the major cuts was to education funding, leaving the Foundation Formula for school funding underfunded by about $100 million. In the Senate, Democrats remained largely silent, but House Democrats were vocal in their attacks about the size of a budget that their own governor had recommended. House Minority Whip Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart, called the budget "morally out of balance," while House Minority Leader Paul LeVota, D-Independence, said the House failed to consider ways to generate more revenue for the state.

State Budget Director Linda Luebbering said her office is concerned the budget passed by the legislature relies on measures that have not yet passed, including Medicaid cost containment, changes to the retirement system for state government workers and the elimination of a couple of state holidays for government workers. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Senate appropriations chairman Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, said the state's grim financial situation led to the quick passage of the budget. In a statement released by his office following the budget's passage, Nixon said he looks "forward to going through this budget line by line to ensure that Missourians' tax dollars are spent in the most efficient and effective manner possible."