Even as the federal number-crunchers are telling us that the recession is over, more bad economic news is coming to Missouri.

As my colleague Virginia Young reports today, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon will be making more budget cuts today — probably at least $300 million and maybe more.

A comment from one state lawmaker in the story really struck me. Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said: “The big places you go to get money are higher education and (elementary and secondary) education, but those are the untouchables.”

That’s because of Nixon’s pledge to keep funding for colleges stable.

I have a…

In today’s Post-Dispatch, our Jefferson City reporters write about what we might — or might not — expect from the final week of the Missouri Legislature

Our Springfield correspondent writes about the unhappy marriage between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn.

We all know that what happens in Jefferson City and Springfield determines much of what happens with our roads, our schools, our taxes and more. But do you pay much attention to what bills are being debated? Or are we so locked in on the national scene that we neglect the state activities that, in many ways, have…