By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – Missouri lawmakers have two weeks left to meet the constitutional deadline for passing a state budget. They say they expect to make that deadline, but they're also counting on more work after that date.
Leading legislative Republicans expect Gov. Bob Holden to veto the budget and call them back for a special session.
There's a fundamental philosophical difference on the issue of whether the state should balance the budget primarily through spending cuts or tax increases. There's room for a compromise that would involve a bit of both, but political realities make the middle ground difficult to reach.
Republicans won a majority last fall with a campaign refrain that the state has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Holden contends the opposite is true, and that voters would rather pay higher taxes than see cuts to their children's education.