JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – There are eight weeks left in the Missouri legislative session and a big-ticket item that still needs to be addressed is the state budget.
In December, some lawmakers were in Jefferson City for budget meetings, which normally doesn’t happen until January. House Democrats said those early conversations weakened the process, but the super majority is happy with where the General Assembly is at.
“One of the things that we as a super minority get to do often in this place, unfortunately, is say, ‘I told you so,'” Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis said.
In his final State of the State address back in January, Gov. Mike Parson laid out his $52 million spending plan. House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Cody Smith, R-Carthage, is now proposing to cut $2 billion from the governor’s proposal.
“The Missouri House budget brings that ongoing spending back within range of the revenue estimate and we are prioritizing balancing that budget with our ongoing revenues, but with an eye on sustainability going towards the future,” Smith said.
Smith, who is running to be Missouri’s next treasurer, said those cuts come from a decline in Medicaid enrollment. An addition he’s making to the budget is proposing to spend $727 million to rebuild parts of Interstate 44.
“That includes a variety of projects from the Joplin area to six lanes all the way through Springfield and over to Rolla,” Smith said. “This is a generational investment to rebuild one of the main arteries across our state.”
Parson’s plan includes $15 billion in general revenue, and Smith’s proposal uses $14.8 billion. Smith’s plan uses lottery funds in education programs to replace general revenue.
Still remaining in the budget is the money to give state workers a 3.2% pay increase, increase teacher pay to $40,000 and fully fund the education formula.
“The adequacy target they are basing it on, as we’ve talked about repeatedly, hasn’t been increased in over a decade,” Merideth said. “So, in real dollars, that’s a reduction every year as inflation happens.”
While Parson proposed a 3% funding increase for all colleges and universities, Democrats on the House Budget Committee said Republicans are rushing the process.
“Every year it seems like we put less hours into budget hearings,” Merideth said. “This year, it seems like they put some things in even before we had a budget in front of us.”
Smith and other Republicans disagree.
“I feel good about the time we’ve taken, the amount of hours we’ve invested on this, and I feel really good about the finished product,” Smith said.
The House is expected to debate the budget on the floor next week. Once approved, it then heads to the Senate with a constitutional deadline to get it to the governor’s desk by May 10.
