Missouri treasurer to legislature: Don't be like Illinois
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri State Treasurer Eric Schmitt on Tuesday offered strong criticism of the state budget — of another state.
The first-term Republican spoke at a news conference along the Mississippi River in St. Louis, urging Missouri lawmakers to avoid the pitfalls that have befallen neighboring Illinois.
"My message to the (Missouri) legislature is crystal clear: Don't be like Illinois," Schmitt said.
The Democrat-controlled Illinois Legislature last week approved a $36 billion budget that ended a more than two-year fiscal stalemate, the nation's longest since the Great Depression. Lawmakers overrode Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's vetoes to pass the budget that includes a $5 billion income tax increase but that does not address a $130 billion shortfall in pension obligations to retired and current state workers.
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