Parson calls for tax cuts, raises for Missouri state employees and $400M for broadband expansion

With state coffers full of federal pandemic relief funds, Gov. Mike Parson is pledging more than $2.1 billion in spending in areas ranging from infrastructure to higher education.

“The bottom line is, Missouri’s economy is strong,” Parson told lawmakers, his Cabinet and statewide elected officials Wednesday during his State of the State address. “With a historic budget surplus and federal dollars coming to our state, we want to build on our past momentum to capture even greater opportunities for the future of Missourians.”

In addition to the federal spending, which includes $400 million in broadband and $100 million in funding for roads and bridges, Parson wants to cut the state’s income tax rate from 5.4% to 5.3%. The governor is also proposing setting aside 2.5% of last year’s general revenue in a rainy day fund. That would total $281 million next budget year. That’s also the rationale behind adding a one-time $500 million payment to the state employee pension fund.

“In this budget there is a lot of one-time funding for one-time projects,” said Dan Haug, the governor’s budget director. “We did not want to spend a bunch of one-time money on ongoing programs and cause a cliff in the future.”

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/government-politics-issues/2022-01-19/parson-calls-for-tax-cuts-raises-for-missouri-state-employees-and-400m-for-broadband-expansion