Missouri lawmakers have a major item crossed off their legislative to do list now. The state Legislature has passed a roughly $50.7 billion state budget proposal for the new fiscal year that begins in July.
The compromise between the House and Senate includes $4.3 billion to fund K-12 public schools – $190 million short of full funding. Another $60 million is designated to help public school students attend private school.
State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, D-Columbia, successfully pushed to remove a ban on spending for groups who are testing a different way of learning and measuring what students know.
“We hear all the time people being frustrated with the MAP test. And the only way we’re going to be able to change that MAP test is to move in a direction that’s going to be slow moving. And we’re already starting this process,” said Steinhoff.
The budget still includes stripping $2.5 million in funding to switch from end-of-year standardized MAP tests to multiple tests given during a school year.
Lawmakers also propose $1.3 billion to fund Missouri’s public colleges and universities – the same level of funding as the current budget year. The plan calls for the state to create a new college funding model by the end of this year.
The spending plan restores more than $51 million in proposed cuts for childcare funding to help low-income and foster families. It allows providers to receive payments based on enrollment – with limits – instead of daily attendance. The proposal does not shift those payments to the beginning of each month, like Gov. Mike Kehoe wanted.
State Rep. Betsy Fogle, D-Springfield, told Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman, Sen. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, that she opposes the plan to pay providers at the end of the month.
“The governor stood on the stage during the state of the state and promised two things, that we would move to payment on enrollment and move to prospective payment, paying at the beginning of the month and not the end. I understand that there’s some compromise here in terms of moving towards a pay on enrollment,” said Fogle.
“It does get us closer to enrollment. It’s not enrollment, but it does get us closer to enrollment,” said Black.
State Rep. Darin Chappell, R-Rogersville, said he’s glad lawmakers were able to restore more than $80 million in proposed cuts to services for developmentally disabled adults.
“I recognize as the years come forward going from this point, money may be tighter and tighter. In fact, it will be. More difficult decisions are going to be made. A lot of hard work went in on this, a lot of sleepless nights, and we got this done together,” said Chappell.
During negotiations, State Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, D-Clay County, unsuccessfully pushed to restore $62,000 for small programs helping Missourians battling mental health issues.
“This is not a pet project,” she said. “This is something statewide that is keeping people in their homes at a cost savings to the state. Like, I can’t understand how we cannot back up right now this essentially, you know, less than $63,000 on this line.”
Will state workers get a cost-of-living pay raise? Not this time. State Rep. Stephanie Hein, D-Springfield, said lawmakers are neglecting state workers in this budget proposal.
“I so appreciate the work that these individuals do to keep our state going. It is important work for us to get accomplished. And I know we’ve made big investments in compensation, but that’s not going to help our employees keep up with the cost of living,” said Hein.
The plan does include a retention increase of 1% for every two years of work as a state employee.
The spending plan proposes $17.8 billion for the Department of Social Services and its 6,700 employees – the largest spending bill in the budget.
State Rep. Kemp Strickler, D-Lee’s Summit, said the federal government is warning the department to reduce its administrative mistakes or lose $1.5 billion in funding for Medicaid and SNAP food stamps.
“These are scary numbers, and this group, especially the group that comes back next year and the year after, are going to have to deal with it. I feel good about the plan that we’ve seen from the department on their implementation plan, but there is so much at stake,” said Strickler.
Now the budget plan goes to Gov. Mike Kehoe to decide what he supports and if there’s anything he can live without.
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