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Holden Will Veto Education Budgets Again

Missouri Governor Bob Holden
(KWMU File Photo)
Missouri Governor Bob Holden

By AP/KWMU

Jefferson City, MO – Missouri Governor Bob Holden says he will once again veto the state's education budget.

Holden, a Democrat, is asking lawmakers a second time to consider raising new revenues for public schools and state colleges. He has suggested new taxes on casinos and cigarettes, as well as closing some tax loopholes.

The governor made the announcement Wednesday morning, a day after the Republican-led Legislature sent him a revised budget. GOP leaders claim the revised budget would provide education with about the same amount of money it received this year.

But Holden says the Legislature's latest budget remains nearly $240 million dollars out of balance, which would force him to withhold money appropriated to education when the fiscal year starts July first.

Holden said he would ask lawmakers to pass an emergency appropriation for public schools and state colleges, then return in September for a second special session to consider ways to raise more money.

Republican leaders had said if Holden vetoed this budget, they would likely just send him the same spending plan again.

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