JEFFERSON CITY — Article III, Section 25, of the Missouri Constitution states “No appropriation bill shall be taken up for consideration after 6:00 p.m. on the first Friday following the first Monday in May of each year.”  Lawmakers did not exceed this constitutional deadline, sending the bills that make up Missouri’s next fiscal year budget to the governor’s desk one day ahead of schedule. 

The conference committee responsible for finalizing Missouri’s operating budget for Fiscal Year 2015 finished its work mid-week, sending most of the bills that make up the $26.4 billion state budget to both chambers for final passage. 

The final version of the budget includes $114.8 million increase for the state’s K-12 school foundation formula, with $3.1 billion in basic state aid for education; $43.3 million for performance-based funding for higher education institutions (5 percent total increase for two- and four-year public institutions), along with $15 million for the Access Missouri Scholarship Program, $7 million for Bright Flight expansion to include a loan forgiveness component, and a $6.7 million increase for the A+ Schools Program.

The FY 2015 state spending plan also includes $14.2 million for a 25-year plan bonding proposal for the Fulton State Hospital and $198 million to construct the new maximum security mental health facility.

More than $16.6 million in additional funding goes to strengthening Missouri’s mental health system, as well as $17.8 million in general revenue to restore dental benefits for Medicaid-eligible adults.  In addition, $4 million was allocated to the Utilicare program to help low-income Missourians pay their utility bills. 

State employees with receive a 1 percent pay raise beginning Jan. 1, 2015.

House Bill 2001, which appropriates money for public debt, was delivered to the governor at the end of April; House Bills 2002-2013 will now join this bill on the governor’s desk. 

The 2015 fiscal year starts July 1, 2014, and runs through June 30, 2015.