JEFFERSON CITY -- Sen. Chuck Gross, R- St. Charles, has been appointed to serve as vice-chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which handles state appropriations and disbursements in the yearly budget process.

"Fiscally there are a lot of challenges ahead of us this year," said Sen. Gross. "It's going to take a great deal of work and dedication to develop this year's budget."

Sen. Gross has served on the Appropriations Committee since his election to the Missouri Senate in 2000.

"Although we're still in the early stages of developing a budget, projections show a shortfall of as much as $1 billion," said Sen. Gross. "We are now faced with identifying reductions in order to balance the budget."

Gov. Bob Holden will present his budget proposal to the General Assembly on Wednesday during the annual State of the State address.

The General Assembly develops the state's budget based on the initial budget presented by the governor. Missouri's constitution requires the Legislature to conclude their budget work and submit a final budget to the governor one-week before the body adjourns in May. The constitution requires that the budget must be balanced every year.

"Lawmakers are ready and willing to work with the governor in hammering out this budget," Sen. Gross said. "However, there is one area in which we will not compromise - we will not raise taxes in order to balance the budget. Nor will we agree to dip into the state's Rainy Day Fund, which the governor proposed last session."

Sen. Gross' other committee assignments include Commerce and Environment; Financial and Governmental Organization, Veterans Affairs and Elections; Government Accountability and Fiscal Oversight; Pensions and General Laws; and Legislative Research. In addition, he will serve on the following joint legislative committees: Joint Committee on Public Employee Retirement, for which he will serve as chairman; Joint Committee Administrative Rules; and Joint Committee on Bio-Terrorism.