Budget Proposal Affects Education, Social Services
This week the Missouri House gave first-round approval for next year’s state budget. The House bills responsible for balancing fiscal year 2017 address a wide range of issues facing the state, such as transportation, social services, mental health, agriculture and education. The proposed budget will now move on to the Senate for consideration.
The new year’s $27.3 billion state budget is drastically being impacted by the Department of Social Services’ (DSS) funding requests, increasing them to unsustainable levels that threaten the budgets of other state programs, departments and services. The 2017 DSS budget has increased at a very dangerous rate compared to years past. Between fiscal years 2016-2017, DSS General Revenue funding has been recommended to increase by $395 million.
This is a massive amount of funding, with the large majority of it going toward MO HealthNet – over 98 percent planned to go to Missouri Medicaid. Based on a 4.2 percent growth rate, overall DSS General Revenue funding is expected to grow to $370 million, but the proposed budget calls for $395 million total. This means $25 million in General Revenue monies will have to be taken from other state programs and services just to pay for an increase in social services. Funding levels this high might mean that other state programs and services aren’t receiving the support they need to be effective and successful. Other state services will literally pay the price unless some tough decisions are made.
Even though DSS funding for the coming year is growing quickly, there are some very uplifting proposals as far as Missouri education is concerned. I am pleased the proposal calls for an increase in funding for K-12 education. As chair of the Senate Education Committee and the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, increasing funding for our state’s school system has always been a priority of mine. Parts of the House proposal call for funding the maintenance of existing local school infrastructure, more money being allocated to smaller rural districts and helping students with disabilities. This is great news for Missouri’s general education system, and will help ensure a brighter future for students, teachers and families in all school districts.
The Missouri Foundation Formula, which is a plan designed to ensure that all schools throughout the state receive the funding they need to provide a quality education to their students, is also set up to receive an additional $71 million.
This coming year’s budget proposal also deals with secondary and higher education. Some of these considerations include adding $500,000 increase in funding to the Missouri Bright Flight scholarship program, a $4 million increase for the need-based scholarship Access Missouri and a $2.5 million increase in the A+ Scholarship program. All of these scholarships help Missouri students pave their way to college by offering awards and financial aid. The Access Missouri Financial Assistance Program provides aid based on a student’s expected family contribution based on the school they wish to attend. Bright Flight encourages the best and brightest Missouri students to attend the postsecondary school that best suits them by providing tuition aid incentives to maintain academic success.
The House plan also calls for $7.7 million in cuts within the University of Missouri’s administration, which includes the president’s office and board of curators. Lincoln University is set to receive an additional $1 million in funding, with the money being taken from the UM-Columbia campus and reallocated to Lincoln.
Even though the Missouri education system still has a long way to go to achieve financial stability, this coming year’s budget proposal is a step in the right direction. I look forward to receiving the House’s plan next week, and will take part in increasing the quality and access to education across the state.
As always, please feel free to contact me or my staff with any questions or concerns at any time. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions and trying to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at 866-277-0882 (toll-free) or (573) 751-2272, or by fax at (573) 526-7381.
Some other key points of interest in the budget include $500,000 for the Urban Education Institute at Harris-Stowe State University and
Senator David Pearce serves Caldwell, Carroll, Howard, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Ray and Saline counties in the 21st State Senatorial District.