The deadline for Gov. Mike Parson to decide on the $49 billion Missouri state operating budget proposal is 5 p.m. Friday. Kelli Jones, spokesperson for Parson, said the governor is finalizing his budget decisions.
Earlier this month, Parson said he plans to veto some budget items proposed.
The FY 2024 spending plan begins July 1.
Highlights of the plan include:
•$3.6 billion in state aid to schools
•$2.8 billion to widen I-70 to at least three lanes from Wentzville to Blue Springs
•$300 million to build a psychiatric hospital in Kansas City
•$233 million to fully fund public school transportation costs
•$171 million to boost pay for workers caring for the developmentally disabled
•$78 million to increase rates for 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
•$13.7 million to add 100 Children’s Division employees to help keep families together
•$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 ag 5 at no charge
•$4.6 million in state funding to Missouri’s public libraries
•$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 final version of the budget does not include a House effort to ban state government spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion measures.
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