Nixon Slashes $204 Million From Missouri Budget

Jefferson City, MO – Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has announced more cuts to the state budget, due to the ongoing decline in state revenues.

Nixon is slashing nearly $204 million out the current budget. He's eliminating nearly 700 state jobs, most of them part-time, and shrinking numerous programs within state agencies.

The governor says the cuts don't include reductions to education funding, scholarships, or to crucial public safety needs.

Nixon: "We will not be shutting down a prison, or eliminating Highway Patrol Troopers from our roads or Water Patrol officers from our waterways."

Nixon also says there'll be no reductions to Medicaid eligibility. However, Medicaid payments to some health care providers will be reduced, and the state will no longer take new non-Medicaid clients for some mental health services.