The Clock is Ticking

The clock has nearly run out on the 2024 regular legislative session. Any bills not passed by May 12 get set aside. There’s another deadline looming first, however. As I write this report on the morning of May 5, we must finish the budget by 6 p.m. today. Although the final votes haven’t happened yet, it’s possible to make some pretty good assumptions about next year’s budget.

Missouri’s operating budget for Fiscal Year 2024 will total roughly $50 billion dollars. As in years past, the largest component of state spending will be devoted to Medicaid expenses. Funded primarily by federal dollars, Missouri’s Mo HealthNet program grew even larger in 2021 after voters approved expanding Medicaid coverage for low-income individuals. The next biggest piece of the budget pie is education. The state of Missouri will spend about $10 billion, or 20% of the state budget, educating children in K-12 classrooms. A distant third in the budget is transportation, and the cost of building and maintaining nearly 34,000 miles of roadways in our state. 

One of the biggest differences between the Senate and House budgets involved transportation. In the end, a conference committee chose the Senate’s vision for a $2.8 billion project to widen Interstate 70 to six lanes from Wentzville to Blue Springs. Other major expenditures in the FY ’24 budget include increased funding for the childcare providers, pre-kindergarten programs and school teachers. I’ll know more about the budget after both chambers cast their votes.

With the conclusion of the 2024 session just one week away, time is short to get legislative proposals across the finish line. I’m happy to report my Senate Joint Resolution 7, which creates the Missouri 250 Commission, has passed both chambers and is now considered “truly agreed and finally passed.” This legislation sets in place the structure needed for Missouri to plan, promote and implement celebrations recognizing the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding.

Several other bills I sponsored this year are now closer to a final vote. Senate Bill 22, my legislation to ensure minors convicted of second-degree murder are not eligible for early parole, has one more committee hurdle before coming for a vote in the House of Representatives. The language of this bill has also been added to at least one other bill that appears to be headed for final passage. Two other bills I sponsored have passed out of the House with amendments, so the Senate will need to vote again to get those measures to the governor’s desk. Senate Bill 109 relates to mining fees, while Senate Bill 111 will allow state employees to be paid every two weeks, instead of twice a month. The Senate rejected the House’s numerous changes to my Senate Bill 20, which originally related to MoDOT’s retirement board, and the expanded bill has been referred to a conference committee to be pared down.

I’m not able to predict what bills will make it to the governor’s desk, but I do know one thing for certain: This session will end in just over a week. Whatever we’re going to accomplish, we must do before the final gavel on May 12. Please check back for future updates, and I’ll let you know what happens.

As always, it is an honor to serve the 6th Senatorial District. If my office can be service to you, please feel free to contact us at 573-751-2076. For information about my committee assignments or sponsored legislation, please visit my official Missouri Senate website at senate.mo.gov/Bernskoetter.