JEFFERSON CITY — This week, the governor addressed the legislature and the citizens of Missouri and offered his annual State of the State presentation. This speech typically outlines the governor’s priorities for the legislative session, as well as his proposed budget for the next fiscal year. We are mandated to have a financially sound budget by this year’s constitutional deadline of May 10.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am always interested in the governor’s budget proposals. Some of his ideas for Fiscal Year 2014 were a welcome change, while others need a further look.

I am in favor or adding additional funds to all levels of education. Even though the last few years have not seen the foundation formula fully funded, we have managed to keep our schools funding constant, therefore avoiding decreasing the money allotted to schools.

The governor is partly basing his budget on expanding Medicaid, adding 300,000 people to the Medicaid rolls. While many say federal funds will pay for the first few years of an expanded program, eventually the state will be required to pay an ever-increasing match. A reasonable question to ask is where is the federal government going to get this money? Our federal government doesn’t have that kind of money available to dole out to states, and, if they do, they are only borrowing it from our future. Missourians have to live under a tight budget these days. Missouri’s General Assembly takes on the responsibility of creating a budget using only funds we have available. Why should we expand a program under the guise of federal funding when we know that our government is overextending itself to make that promise? Those are discussions we will need to have before moving forward.

I have served on the Senate Appropriations Committee since coming to the Senate. It is my honor to serve on that committee and fight for the best interests of all Missourians. The only constitutional mandate of the General Assembly is that we pass a fiscally responsible budget before the deadline, and that is a goal we will meet. The operating budget the governor proposes is higher than what we have had to work with since 2008, and yet we have to make sure there is a reliable source of income to fund our budget.