In this episode, Empower Missouri’s Sarah Owsley and Gina Aitch of the Missouri Budget Project explain why Missouri faces a growing budget shortfall: one-time federal pandemic funds have ended, large state tax cuts have reduced general revenue, and new federal changes will shift more costs for Medicaid and SNAP to states. They break down how those pressures could affect schools, health care, and local services, why replacing income tax with sales tax would deepen regressivity, and which policy options (eliminating loopholes or ballot measures for fair-share taxes) might help close the gap.