Legislature Sends Budget Package to Governor
The Missouri General Assembly worked hard all session to deliver a fair and balanced budget to the governor by this year’s May 5 constitutional deadline. Crafting the state budget always requires a good deal of compromise, but it’s safe to say this year’s budget process required even more than usual. In some of those compromises, the 12th District came out on top; in others, we lost out. The same can be said of every district in the state. While I wasn’t pleased with some of the political games that were played last week, all in all, I believe we passed a solid, affordable budget for our state and its citizens.
Again, we were able to fully fund Missouri’s K-12 Foundation Formula, which has long been a priority of the Legislature. We also added more money to help cover school bus transportation costs for elementary and secondary education. Unfortunately, we did have to make some cuts to higher education.
There was also the possibility of cuts to some senior services and in-home and nursing care services, and we really struggled for a time to find a mechanism to fund them. Thankfully, we were able to find some revenue in the budget, and these important services will more or less remain funded at their current levels. Finally, we decided to fully fund MOSERS, the Missouri State Employee’s Retirement System. Other states have started taking funding out of their pension programs to put towards other budget items, and they’ve really dug themselves a deep hole. Because of this, the Senate was insistent on keeping MOSERS solvent.
With just five days left of session, there are still a number of priority measures needing to be addressed. One of them pertains to REAL ID. This is a serious issue and one citizens throughout the state want resolved. Of course, we also have a handful of tort reform bills I’d like to see cross the finish line, as well as some local issue bills that will help our local governments operate more efficiently and effectively. The 2017 legislative session ends Friday at 6 p.m.
In other news, I was honored to speak at North Central Missouri College’s commencement ceremony on Saturday. I wish all the new graduates of the Class of 2017 great success wherever life takes them and once again offer my congratulations.
As always, please feel free to call, email, or write with your ideas or concerns. My Capitol office number is (573) 751-1415, my email is dan.hegeman@senate.mo.gov and my mailing address is Room 332, State Capitol Building, Jefferson City, MO 65101.