JEFFERSON CITY — In Missouri’s robust post-pandemic economy, state lawmakers had a lot of money to spend in the upcoming fiscal year. And, in a daylong rush to finalize a state budget, spend they did.
Facing a 6 p.m. Friday deadline to get a spending plan in place for the year beginning July 1, the House and Senate settled on a nearly $50 billion blueprint that includes a long-sought widening of Interstate 70, more money to help care for disabled Missourians and a boost for child care needs.
There was virtually no debate in either chamber, signaling that rank-and-file lawmakers were satisfied with the work of the budget writers.
“This is a culmination of months and months and months of work,†said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield.
Gone from the plan were divisive culture war issues inserted by the House, including language affecting diversity and inclusion policies that could have endangered billions of dollars in state contracts.
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The package of 19 bills now goes to Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican who described his penultimate budget proposal with the words “Not done yet.â€
After an initial panic over a pandemic-related economic downturn, the state currently has an estimated surplus of $5 billion, with forecasts showing that could grow by another $1 billion, giving Republicans who control the House and Senate a comfortable cushion to grow state government programs.
Parson has spent his five years in office preaching about workforce development and infrastructure and the budget reflects those priorities.
Under the proposal, the $2.8 billion I-70 project is split between a one-time cash infusion and a plan to sell bonds and pay them back over 15 years. It will add a lane in each direction between Wentzville and Blue Springs, creating thousands of construction jobs and easing travel on the busy transcontinental roadway.
In exchange for endorsing the massive I-70 expansion, rural lawmakers were rewarded with a $100 million pool of money to improve so-called “low volume†roads. That’s up from the $40 million the Senate had proposed.
Lawmakers also inserted money to study a widening of Interstate 44, as well as funding to improve Route 63 in south-central Missouri.
“We are making a lot of good investments in capital improvement projects,†said House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage.
Parson also was awarded more than $135 million to bolster pre-kindergarten and child care programs designed to get more Missourians into the workforce.
The added money is designed to help the state’s child care industry rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a huge drop in the number of day care facilities after parents kept their children at home.
State worker pay raises
The plan also continues Parson’s push to raise state worker pay in an attempt stop high turnover employee rates that have affected services.
The Senate compromised with the House over a plan to boost hourly wage rates for privately contracted workers who care for developmentally disabled residents of the state.
Rather than setting the minimum wage for those positions to $17, the top rate was lowered to $16.
Hough said he was disappointed the House wouldn’t agree to a $461 million increase that would have put the base at $17 an hour at a time when warehouses and other private sector businesses are paying more than $20.
“I was trying to do more than that,†Hough said earlier in the week.
Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Manchester, also had sought a higher wage for the in-home care providers.
“We do continue to pay them poorly,†Lavender said.
The budget also fully funds Parson’s request for $13.7 million to add 100 workers at the Department of Social Services Children’s Division in an attempt to help the state’s under-funded child welfare programs.
Education funding
Public schools and universities will see increases in the coming year.
The $9.7 billion K-12 budget will fully fund the school foundation formula and fully fund transportation costs for school districts, while colleges and universities will see a 7% increase to account for inflation.
Schools also will be able to tap into a $50 million grant program to add safety features designed to stop school shooters.
And, base pay for teachers will be increased to $38,000 in an attempt to recruit and retain teachers.
Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, which was the site of a school shooting in October that killed a student and a teacher, received $700,000 for added administrative help and supplies.
In an example of widespread bipartisan support, the education funding portion of the budget was approved in the House on a 148-5 vote.
In the Senate, the tally was 25-8.
“There is really a lot of good stuff for kids in this bill,†said Sen. Lauren Arthur, D-Kansas City.
The higher education budget was approved on a 139-9 vote. Some Democrats, including Rep. Kevin Windham, D-Hillsdale, voted “no†because of language barring undocumented college students, known as “Dreamers,†to qualify for in-state tuition.
“This policy is regressive. It hurts us economically,†said Rep. Ingrid Burnett, D-Kansas City.
The public safety budget includes a 20% increase for Missouri State Highway Patrol workers to keep them competitive with police in other states.
“We feel like that’s a very important investment,†said House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage.
Money for ºüÀêÊÓƵ region
The ºüÀêÊÓƵ region scored some significant money for construction projects, including $13 million to help pay for a new police facility in the city that will include a day care facility as a way to enhance recruiting of hard-to-fill 911 operator jobs.
Another earmark includes $300,000 for businesses in low-income areas of the city to receive $15,000 grants to repair building facades.
The budget sets aside $3 million to help finance a major renovation of Powell Hall for the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Symphony. It also includes $4 million to rehabilitate a former church in the Central West End into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
The University of Missouri-ºüÀêÊÓƵ will receive $20 million to remake the campus, including a more centralized academic core north of Natural Bridge Road and a health sciences campus to the south.
Similarly, ºüÀêÊÓƵ Community College would receive $21 million for new facilities at its Wildwood campus.
The Missouri National Guard will get $20 million to build a new military staging facility in Bellefontaine Neighbors. The facility will provide more storage, training and maintenance capabilities for the National Guard.
The budget also spends $500,000 to help jumpstart a museum in Jefferson County dedicated to the discovery of dinosaur bones in the area.
Other spending
The University of Missouri also scored some major projects, including $43 million for new veterinary hospital in Columbia. It will be named after the late Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla, a veterinarian and father of current Sen. Justin Brown.
Mizzou also will get $25 million to build a so-called “meat lab.†The new facility will serve as a research slaughterhouse to encourage the expansion of beef, pork and poultry processing facilities in the state.
Missouri ranks third in the nation in the number of beef cows, estimated at 2 million head, behind Texas and Oklahoma.
Soccer fans also won a round in the spending sweepstakes after the Senate inserted $50 million into the budget for development related to World Cup soccer games coming to Kansas City in 2026.
The legislation is