Gov. Nixon announces $59.1 million in budget cuts

Gov. Nixon announced $59.1 million in cuts to the 2017 Fiscal Year budget Thursday.

The cuts come after lawmakers enacted special interest tax breaks with SB 641 and SB 1025 during the veto session Wednesday, according to the governor’s office.

Senate bill 641 creates an income tax break “for payments received as part of a program that compensates agriculture producers for losses from disaster or emergency,” according to the bill summary.

Senate bill 1025 “exempts instructional classes from sales tax,” according to the bill summary.

One of the cuts include $16.5 million from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s foundation school transportation. Nixon also cut $6 million from the DESE foundation formula.

In addition, Nixon cut $20 million from the Missouri Department of Transportation’s new MO Moves program, among multiple other cuts.