The one constitutional obligation of the Legislature is to pass an on-time and balanced budget. In order to address any possible vetoes from the governor on the over 1,500 line items in the overall budget, the Legislature delivered Missouri’s on-time and balanced budget two weeks before the constitutional deadline of May 8, 2015. The Fiscal Year 2016 budget includes $26.1 billion in funding and will increase funding for K-12 education, higher education, services to veterans and add new funding for safety-net programs.
The budget process is a long one, and starts as soon as the legislative session is convened in January. After receiving recommendations from state agencies and the priorities of the governor, weeks of public hearings are held. The House crafts a budget and then sends it to the Senate in the form of 13 budget bills. The Senate Appropriations Committee, of which I am a member, discuss those bills and make recommendations. After the bills are approved by the committee, they are sent to the Senate floor, where debate takes place and more recommendations are made. After the Senate approves a budget the bills then return to the House before they go to a conference committee to work out differences between the two chambers.
This session, I served on the conference committee for both House Bill 2, K-12 funding, as well as House Bill 3, higher education funding. My colleagues and I on the conference committee debated and negotiated the budget bills, working through many tough decisions, to create a budget that will be fiscally responsible and keep our state moving forward.
The final result of all that work is a balanced budget that includes a $90 million surplus that will limit restrictions on important programs made by the governor. In the past, important programs funded by the legislature have been cut by the governor, including dental health services for adult Medicaid recipients, improvements to telehealth pilot Project ECHO, and funding for community colleges.
Programs that were made priorities by the Legislature this session included increasing education funding that is distributed by the Foundation Formula by $84.2 million and an increase in aid to Missouri’s public higher education institutions of $12 million, including the University of Central Missouri. Scholarship funding was increased with the addition of $2 million to the A+ Program. The highly successful Parents As Teachers program will see a $2.46 million increase as well. To help protect and promote the military interests in Missouri, including Whiteman Air Force Base, $400,000 was included for a position at the Department of Economic Development to establish a presence in Washington D. C., and the Pentagon. Also, to increase the on-time performance and continued operation and expansion of Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner, $700,000 was added to defray costs of Amtrak.
Once on his desk the governor has 15 days from the time the budget is passed to sign or veto line items. If any vetoes are priorities that must be addressed in a fiscally responsible manner or if it is agreed that those vetoes should not be overridden will be determined by the Legislature. There are many tough fiscal decisions, however playing politics with a balanced budget and the state’s surplus reserves is not acceptable when placed on the backs of Missouri’s most vulnerable citizens.
As always, please feel free to contact me or my staff with any questions or concerns at any time. We look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions and trying to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us by phone at 866-277-0882 (toll-free) or (573) 751-2272, or by fax at (573) 526-7381.
Senator David Pearce serves Caldwell, Carroll, Howard, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Ray and Saline counties in the 21st State Senatorial District. |
