Getting Down to Business

We just finished the third week of the 2023 legislative session, and the Senate is now in full swing. Committees began hearing testimony on legislation, and we met in a joint session with the House of Representatives to listen to the governor deliver his annual State of the State address. The legislative priorities he highlighted in the speech, as well as the accompanying budget requests he submitted to the Legislature, will help set our agenda in the coming months.

On the legislative front, I presented Senate Bill 70 before the Government Accountability Committee. This legislation would improve access to professional mental health counseling services by adopting the Counseling Interstate Compact in Missouri. This compact is essentially a contract among the states allowing professional counselors who are licensed in one state to practice in other states without having to apply for a new license. The legislation continues a trend begun several years ago to streamline professional licensing in Missouri. Making it easier for licensed mental health professionals to work across state lines expands the availability of services for Missourians and also encourages professionals to relocate and work in our state. A military reciprocity provision of the bill allows spouses of military personnel to work in their profession while the family is deployed in our state.

As I mentioned in my legislative update last week, I have been appointed to serve on the Senate’s Economic Development and Tax Policy Committee. This week, the committee held its first hearing. Among the legislative proposals we considered was Senate Bill 8, a measure that would roll back, and perhaps eventually eliminate, personal property taxes in Missouri. If you’re like me, I imagine the pain of writing a check for the taxes on your cars, motorcycles, boats and other personal property is fresh in your mind. The fact that we must pay taxes on property we already own continues to be one of the most common complaints I hear as a legislator. I can’t guarantee SB 8 will make it through the legislative process, but I thought you’d like to know the idea is being discussed.

Additionally, we heard a lot of new ideas this week as the governor delivered his State of the State address. In this year’s speech, the governor presented an ambitious spending plan that totals more than $50 billion, with many of his requests funded through an influx of federal money and record state general revenues derived from tax collections.

The governor’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget request fully funds Missouri’s K-12 schools and also includes an increase in spending on higher education. His proposed budget also includes $233 million to fully fund the state’s share of local school transportation costs. Other spending proposals included increased funding to combat maternal mortality, subsidies for child care services, more money for rural broadband services and an 8.7% cost of living increase for state employees.

Infrastructure investment continues to be a priority for the governor, and his proposed budget includes an $859 million request for improvements to Interstate 70. Describing the request as the beginning of a multi-year effort to eventually widen both sides of I-70 to three lanes, he said the project would initially focus on the two metropolitan areas, as well as the bottleneck near Columbia. Early indications are the Wentzville and Warrenton section of Interstate 70 would be included in the first stage. I believe St. Charles, as the fastest growing area in our state, should necessarily be highlighted as a starting point for these dollars. 

All of the governor’s spending proposals are subject to legislative approval, and the budget won’t be finalized until May. In the meantime, we’ll work on reviewing proposed legislation and moving bills to the floor for debate in the coming weeks. We have a full schedule of committee hearings next week. If you’re interested in following along, you can listen to committee hearings online as they occur at senate.mo.gov. You can also read the full text of proposed legislation and track a bill’s progress. If you have questions or would like to share your thoughts, please contact my office.

Senator Travis Fitzwater serves residents of Callaway, Lincoln, Montgomery, Pike and a portion of St. Charles counties in the Missouri State Senate. For more information about Sen. Fitzwater, visit senate.mo.gov/Fitzwater.