Missouri lawmakers are trying to spare colleges and universities from budget cuts despite plummeting revenues.
House and Senate negotiators on Thursday agreed to avoid state funding cuts to community colleges. Four-year schools will also get stable funding, but only if the state gets more federal aid.
The agreement came the same day state Budget Director Dan Haug announced net revenue collections dropped more than 54% in April compared to the same time last year. So far this year overall revenues decreased more than 6%.
Haug says when the virus hit, the state economy "turned off like a faucet."