JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A Missouri senator is warning that he will block any efforts to generate one-time money for the state budget until there is consideration of sweeping changes to state tax credits, pensions and prisons.
Republican Sen. Jason Crowell, of Cape Girardeau, said Wednesday that officials have merely been patching the budget with gimmicks.
He cited Gov. Jay Nixon's plan to divert $40 million from a settlement with mortgage lenders to instead fund higher education. He also cited proposals to generate revenues through an amnesty period for people with overdue taxes. And Crowell said he will block bills that would sweep money from special state funds into general revenues and grant the Department of Revenue new powers to garnish money from the bank accounts of people who haven't paid taxes.