Senator warns governor's revenue projections rely on "accounting tricks," calls for Senate oversight
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Summary
A floor speech using the governor's general revenue summary warned that projections rely on lapses and withholds to reach near-zero ending balances by FY2027 and cautioned the state could be unable to write checks without stronger legislative oversight.
A senator used charts from the governor's budget books to warn colleagues that current revenue projections depend on lapsed appropriations and built-in expenditure restrictions.
"This general revenue summary is from the governor's budget books," the senator said, then walked the chamber through the numbers and charted a path from a FY2025 beginning balance of $4.8 billion to a projected FY2027 ending balance reported as $4.6 million. The speaker said those numbers rely on roughly $850 million in projected lapses and about $500 million in withholds and cautioned that "the state of Missouri is going broke" under the current projections and policy proposals discussed in the session.
The floor presentation broke down terms used in the governor's plan: "lapse" (anticipated unspent appropriations rolled forward), "withhold" (expenditure restrictions the governor may use to balance the budget) and examples of where those assumptions appear in the governor's summary. The senator urged the chamber to reassert oversight to avoid what they characterized as "economic" and "human" harms if funds for diversion programs, drug treatment courts and other services are removed.
No binding budget decision was taken on the floor during the exchange; senators said they would distribute copies of the governor's summary and follow up in committee and appropriations discussions.