Missouri Releases May 2020 General Revenue Report
Yesterday the State of Missouri released the May 2020 General Revenue Report to a few friends in the media: the report has not been posted at the usual place on the Office of Administration website.
I’d want to hide this sick puppy too.
Bottom line: Missouri General Revenue fell off a cliff three months ago and can’t get up. Despite the accidental governor’s slashing of better than $400 million in General Revenue spending – most of it coming out of education – the state still needs to cut an additional $300 million or more to balance the books by the end of this Fiscal Year – June 30, 2020!
With March, April and May receipts severely impacted, the prospects are that June’s revenue will continue the trend, pushing Missouri even deeper into the fiscal hole.
To put it another way, state General Revenue will be down about $125 or more for each man, woman and child in Missouri.
Again, the greatest consumers of General Revenue are elementary and secondary education, and, Medicaid [MO HealthNet]. Governor Mike Parson can leave open state government jobs unfilled; turn off more lights in the Capitol; switch from a caravan of SUVs for his trips about the state to a Chevy Malibu but all those things together don’t move the needle. He will be forced to take more money from programs people need, education and health care.
And, if you think this Fiscal Year is ugly, wait until FY2021 begins July 1. Backwater Jacks and Shady Gators can’t begin to generate the additional revenue Missouri needs. A prudent new year budget needs to come in $2 billion below last year’s roughly $10 billion General Revenue budget. In an election year I don’t expect the Republican majority to head back to Jefferson City to slash the budget. They’ll let Mike do it – and take the political hit.
Missouri General Revenue Monthly Totals_____________
2020 2019
March $727.6 Million $759.5 Million
April $752.2 Million $1.59 Billion
May $533.5 Million $688.2 Million
Year To Date General Revenue Collections
5/31/20 5/31/19
$8.06 Billion $8.70 Billion
Quick notes:
- Missouri, like other governments, pushed their 2019 Income Tax filing deadline from April 15 to July 15. That impacted revenue collections in April. Most of that money will still be collected, much of to be received in the new Fiscal Year beginning July 1.
- Prior to March 2020 General Revenue receipts were tracking above 2019, with a chance of hitting the increase in money projected in the FY2020 budget.
https://oa.mo.gov/commissioners-office/news
The Missouri Times [ https://themissouritimes.com/may-2020-general-revenue-report-shows-drastic-decreases-in-1-year-span/ ]
Glenn