MO Senate primed to pass state budget proposal this week

With three weeks left in the Missouri Legislature’s regular session, the Senate is primed to pass its version of a roughly 48-billion-dollar state budget this week. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee changes include fully funding the formula used to bankroll K-12 public education and removing the governor’s 50-million-dollar request for a scholarship program to send K-12 students to private school.

The committee’s plan restores 107-million federal dollars that Governor Mike Kehoe requested for childcare providers. 

It boosts core funding for Missouri’s public colleges and universities by three-percent. 

Last but not least, it restores the governor’s pay plan for state government workers to a one-percent raise for every two years of employment, capped at a 10-percent hike.

Once the Senate passes its budget proposal, House and Senate budget negotiators are expected to settle their differences.

The deadline to pass a balanced state budget is May 9th.