Legislative Update
The Senate worked until almost midnight on Monday to finalize its version of the state’s FY 2014 budget. The most important and constitutionally required duty of the General Assembly, each year, is to pass a balanced budget. The budget reflects the priorities of our state. In recent years, we’ve been faced with significant shortfalls. We responded accordingly, by trimming waste from the budget and eliminating or scaling back certain programs. The working families of Missouri have to be fiscally prudent in hard times, and so should the state.
Things are finally starting to look better, though. Revenue collections are up and unemployment is down, a sign the actions we took over the last few years to jump start our economy are working. Because of this, our budget for this year is slightly higher than last year’s. However, it’s important we keep following the fiscal conservatism that saw us through the last financial crisis. We should always be looking for ways to cut out waste and streamline our state government.
The Senate’s version of the budget includes a $65.8 million increase for the K-12 education foundation formula. When we invest in our children’s education, we invest in the future of our state. It’s one of the best things we can do for the citizens of Missouri. We also included around a $34 million increase to higher education funding.
The Senate’s version of the budget also eliminates more than $20 million of funding from the Department of Revenue’s budget for issuing licenses and related administrative duties. This is directly in response to the allegations of the department scanning and collecting citizens’ personal information in order to get a license or concealed carry permit. The public’s trust has been betrayed. We need to send a strong signal to this state agency and others that we will not tolerate state departments circumventing the law and misleading the state’s elected representatives.
We also included in the budget funds to shift the issuance of concealed carry permits from DOR to local sheriffs’ offices, which has garnered broad support. Local law enforcement agencies should be in charge of this very important and sensitive duty, especially in light of recent events.
The 13 budget bills now go to the House for consideration. If the Senate’s makes changes to any of the 13 budget bills it then goes to a conference committee between the two chambers, and they will work out any differences. The budget plan that comes out of those negotiations will still need to be approved by both bodies before going to the governor’s desk. We have until May 10 to pass the final budget.
Update on Department of Revenue
The Senate has continued investigating the allegations against DOR. The Appropriations Committee, which was charged with carrying out the inquiry against the department, has been meeting in recent weeks at various locations around the state. These public forums are a great opportunity for citizens to express their concerns regarding this troubling situation. For more information on these meetings, including a schedule, click here or visit the Missouri Senate’s website at www.senate.mo.gov. I will continue to keep you updated on any new developments.
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