The Missouri Senate pulled an all-nighter and has passed a roughly $50 billion state budget proposal today.
Here’s a list of some of the key items that survived in the latest version:
•$3.6 billion in state aid to K-12 public schools
•$2.8 billion to widen Interstate-70 to at least three lanes in both directions from Blue Springs near Kansas City to Wentzville near St. Louis
•$461 million to boost the pay for workers who take care of people with developmental disabilities
•$300 million to build a new psychiatric hospital in Kansas City
•$233 million to fully fund school transportation costs
•$78 million to boost rates to childcare providers
•$56 million for pre-K programs
•$50 million to help Jackson County Sports Authority organize the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City
•$50 million in school safety grants
•$43 million to build a veterinary hospital and lab
•$32 million to boost pay for experienced teachers doing extra work
through the Career Ladder Program
•$29 million to raise the minimum public school teacher salary to $38,000
•$25 million to build a meat laboratory
•$11.5 million to fight Missouri’s black vulture problems
•$11 million for Imagination Library, a reading program to provide a book monthly to Missouri children up to age 5 at no charge
•$2 million to help with Missouri National Guard recruitment
•20% pay increase for Missouri State Highway Patrol officers to deal with staffing shortages
•7% funding increase for the state’s public colleges and universities
The spending proposal leaves $2.5 billion in the state’s piggy bank.
State Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, said there is a change in this year’s state budget proposal about minimum teacher pay.
“If you remember last year, there was a granting program that would allow districts to pull money from the state, if they match at 30% their baseline salary up to $38,000. With an investment of $7.6 million, we can actually alleviate the need for that 30% match on our districts,” said Hough.
The Senate version of the proposed budget restores a $4.6 million House Republican effort to defund the state’s libraries.
State Sen. Lauren Arthur, D-Kansas City, backs the budget including $50 million to help Jackson County Sports Authority organize the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City.
“I cannot overstate the importance of hosting the FIFA World Cup,” she said. “We’ve talked about what a big deal it is. I don’t think people, myself included, I don’t think we have our minds wrapped around the kind of financial impact this will have for our state. If you represent counties as far as Grundy or Barton or Camden, you’re going to have visitors in your district, are going to be people who rent hotel rooms, who spend money, and make huge investments in your communities during their months-long stay to celebrate the World Cup. Not only is there a huge financial impact to the tune of $652 million and over 70,000 jobs supported, it’s an opportunity to showcase Kansas City and our great state on an international stage.”
Hough said another $11.5 million would be designated to fight Missouri’s black vulture problems in the southern half of the state.
“They are seeing with this influx of what used to be a migratory bird that has now set up residency and is costing producers in our area considerable consternation as well as financial impact on their operations,” said Hough.
Here’s what did not survive in the Senate’s version of the proposed budget – an effort by a few Senate Conservatives to ban diversity policies within state government. Senators clashed for about six hours over the proposed ban.
“They want to attack the predominantly African American areas in this state. That in itself is racism and discrimination,” shouted state Sen. Karla May, D-St. Louis.
The budget outline goes back to the House with tweaks, where state Representatives are expected to move for budget negotiations between a committee of House and Senate members.
The constitutional deadline to pass a balanced state budget is May 5.
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