By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostState budget work is always difficult in Jefferson City, but
the coronavirus outbreak makes it doubly difficult.State Sen. Dan Hegeman of Cosby chairs the Senate
Appropriations Committee and says state lawmakers will have to factor in how
COVID-19 is affecting the state.“From a budget standpoint, as a whole, we need to take into
consideration all the costs of the coronavirus that’s coming down the path and
its impact on the economy,” Cosby tells St. Joseph Post.A one-two punch, in effect. It could cost the state plenty to fight
a potential outbreak in Missouri and COVID-19 has already shaken the state
economy, reducing tax revenue, perhaps drastically.The Missouri House postponed a scheduled vote on the nearly $31
billion state budget submitted by Gov. Mike Parson in order to get a better
handle on how the drop in the economy created by the coronavirus will impact
state revenue.The House must pass its version before sending it on to the
Senate, which is out at least until next week. Hegeman says the Senate is prepared to get a state budget
approved by the May 8th deadline.“We will get that done and, like I said, hopefully a few other
bills,” Hegeman says. “After that, we’ll see where we are. I would love to see
us be able to have a full, complete session, but we need to be wise and
cautious as well.”Hegeman doesn’t believe the state will have to tap the Rainy
Day Fund to fund the response to the crisis. State officials expect the federal
government to offset most, if not all, of the COVID-19 response.Gov. Parson says much has to re-assessed as legislators work
on the budget.“But this is a lot more than COVID-19,” Parson tells Capitol
reporters. “This is thousands of people losing their jobs. This is businesses
closing down. There are a lot of things that are going to be at stake. So, for me
as governor, I want it to be about as wide open as we can make it to deal with
COVID-19.”

Coronavirus making state budget work much harder