A key state lawmaker wants the General Assembly to override Governor Jay Nixon’s (D) withhold of money for Missourians with brain injuries.

Representative Marsha Haefner (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House of Representatives)

Representative Marsha Haefner (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House of Representatives)

Governor Nixon withheld about $115 million in spending in early July, including $750,000 for brain injury funding.

State Rep. Marsha Haefner (R-Oakville), who chairs a Missouri House Appropriations Committee, addressed the issue during a Wednesday hearing.

“Committee, you’re probably all aware of this, but I just want to remind you that withholds can be overridden, I believe in Veto Session too,” Haefner says.

Haefner says there’s bipartisan House support for the funding, which also is aimed at keeping people out of nursing homes by allowing them to receive in-home care.

Governor Nixon says the spending restrictions were necessary because of less-than-projected revenue growth for the last fiscal year. Nixon notes net corporate income taxes decreased by 35 percent in fiscal year 2016.

Haefner, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee on Health, Mental Health and Social Services, told Department of Health and Senior Services Deputy Director Bret Fischer Wednesday that the funding is critical.

“Long story short, we need to find a way to get that funding back in order to be on better grounds for a positive result from the waiver application. We need to have the general revenue back in there,” Haefner says.

The Veto Session begins on September 14 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City.