Jefferson City, Mo. – On Jan. 17, the Senate Appropriations Committee held its first public hearing regarding the state’s 2019 operating budget.
Representatives from Easter Seals, Parents as Teachers, Big Brothers, Big Sisters and various other groups presented testimony to the 11-member committee, chaired by Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla.
Earlier in January, the governor joined with both the Senate and House Appropriations chairs to announce Missouri’s Consensus Revenue Estimate (CRE) for the 2019 Fiscal Year. The CRE is a number established by state budget experts and used by the Legislature and governor to build and balance Missouri’s budget.
The key figure in the CRE is the projected general revenue collections for Fiscal Year 2019. Total general revenue collections are expected to be
$9.418 billion. This number reflects a growth in general revenue of 2.5 percent over last year’s budget.
Fiscal Year 2019 starts on July 1, 2018. The General Assembly must approve and send its proposed budget to the governor by May 11, 2018, for his approval. While the constitutional deadline for approval is still months off, budget work is in full swing.
Starting in October each year, state agency budget requests are submitted. The governor then reviews these requests and presents the executive budget recommendations to the General Assembly in January. From there, lawmakers work to create a budget, which is contained in House Bills 1-13.
The Senate Appropriations Committee will meet again on Jan. 22, to begin looking at the governor’s recommended budget.
For more information about the Missouri Senate, or the Capitol, please visit, www.senate.mo.gov.