Senate Approves $26 Billion State Spending Plan
for Fiscal Year 2016

Last November, Missouri voters passed Amendment 10, which gave legislators the authority to override any of the governor’s line-item budget vetoes, as well as any decisions to withhold money from the state budget. Because of these new legislative powers, it has been a priority since day one of session to get the budget on the governor’s desk in enough time to address any funds the governor chooses to withhold.

Determined to accomplish this goal, on Wednesday, the Missouri Senate approved the state’s $26 billion spending plan for Fiscal Year 2016 after nearly 12 hours of intense discussion. Crafting the state budget is a long and meticulous process; as the Legislature’s only constitutionally required duty, however, it’s also the most important undertaking each session.

The most contentious part of the budget debate came in the early morning hours, as legislation moving approximately 200,000 of Missouri’s Medicaid recipients from a fee-for-service system to managed care plans passed after a lengthy six-hour filibuster. Managed care tends to focus more on preventive care.

Another major change included in the Senate’s budget proposal is the plan to appropriate lump sum amounts to the Missouri Departments of Mental Health, Social Services, and Health and Senior Services, as opposed to specifying amounts for each department’s programs. Opponents of this plan have been quick to say that the funding of these departments is being slashed. This is not true. These departments aren’t having their budgets cut. In fact, they are getting even more this year than they spent last year; they simply aren’t getting as much as they had requested.

The change to how these departments receive their funding is an effort to rein in runaway welfare spending. Every year, our social services departments are eating up more and more of our state budget. We must get a handle on their spending and put our state on a more financially sustainable path.

The Senate’s version of the budget also provides for an additional $84.2 million in foundation formula funding for elementary and secondary education, $27.6 million in performance-based funding for higher education and approximately $6.5 million in funding for our community and state technical colleges. Providing for the education of our children today, so we may have a highly educated workforce tomorrow, is the single greatest investment we can make. The education funding contained in this year’s budget is a good start, but we still have a long way to go.

Twelve of the 13 appropriation bills that make up this year’s operating budget will now go to a conference committee, where members from both chambers will work out any differences between the House and Senate versions before being delivered to the governor. While changes will undoubtedly be made, the Legislature has done a great job in creating the most fiscally responsible budget Missouri has seen in years.

In other legislative news, I’m very pleased to say that two measures I sponsored this session are now one step further along in the process: Senate Bill 445, allowing Ameren to purchase and use their own air quality monitoring system to monitor sulfur dioxide emissions, was perfected Wednesday afternoon; and Senate Bill 230, expanding telehealth services in Missouri, was third read and passed by the Senate on Thursday.

Contact Me

I always appreciate hearing your comments, opinions and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-4008. You may write me at Gary Romine, Missouri Senate, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101; or email me at gary.romine@senate.mo.gov; or www.senate.mo.gov/romine.

Sen. Romine’s Sponsored Legislation for 2015