JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Senate today (4-29) gives its approval to the 13 bills that make up the state’s $26.8 billion operating budget for FY 2015.  Senators debated the state spending plan adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee last week, which reflected the upper chamber’s funding priorities.  These measures were handled in the Senate by Appropriations Committee Chairman Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia.

In the area of education through House Bill 2002, the Senate approved a $114.8 million increase in general revenue for the state’s K-12 school foundation formula;  provided increases for school transportation ($15 million), the High Need Fund ($10.4 million), First Steps ($8.5 million), the Missouri Preschool Program ($3 million), Parents As Teachers ($1 million), and the Urban Teaching Program, also known as Teach for America ($1 million); and created funding for the new statewide School Safety/Active Shooter Response Training Program ($750,000), established by Senate Bill 75 passed by the Legislature in 2013.

Funding for state colleges and universities is found in House Bill 2003, which contains a 5 percent total increase in general revenue - $43.3 million in total - for performance-based funding, $33 million for a new State Historical Society building located at the University of Missouri-Columbia, a $8.5 million increase for the Access Missouri Financial Assistance Program, a $6.7 million increase to the A+ Schools Program, and $5.3 million to include a loan forgiveness component within the Bright Flight Scholarship Program expansion.  An amendment offered by Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, later adopted by the Senate, would add funding ($101,880) for the STEM Initiative, designed to improve education and support industry development in math, engineering, technology and science fields.

House Bill 2005, which appropriates funding for the Office of Administration and Employee Benefits, includes two of the three avenues created by the General Assembly this year to provide funding to construct the new Fulton State Hospital.  The measure includes $198 million to authorize the building of the new hospital, as well as $14.2 million for the Fulton State Hospital Bond, contingent on the passage of House Bill 2020, a supplemental budget bill designed to appropriate funds for planning and capital improvements that was perfected by the House this week.  In addition, the Senate’s approved budget includes a 1 percent pay increase for all state employees beginning Jan. 1, 2015. 

Approximately $42.7 million, found in House Bill 2007, is allocated to increase Missouri’s Second Injury Fund payments for distribution of benefits as a result of legislation (Senate Bill 1) passed by the General Assembly in 2013, which establishes priority for paying fund liabilities and instituting a funding mechanism to bolster the Second Injury Fund when usual collections are inadequate. 

The Department of Mental Health budget includes a $6.9 million increase in general revenue for MO HealthNet programs, $11.2 million in additional general revenue to strengthen the state’s mental health system, and an additional $1.3 million in funding for Regional Autism Projects and an Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Unit.    House Bill 2010 also includes funding for the Department of Health and Senior Services.  Approximately $6.7 million in general revenue is allocated for Medicaid home- and community-based services, $11.7 million in federal funding is slated for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program as a result of increased participation and higher medication costs, and $189,800 in additional general revenue funding for newborn screening services.

One of the largest funding items in House Bill 2011, which includes budget items for the Department of Social Services, includes $17.8 million in general revenue – $48.2 million total – in additional funding to restore dental benefits for prevention, restoration, maintenance, and extraction for Medicaid-eligible adults currently not receiving these services.  Currently, only Missouri’s senior citizens, blind population, and pregnant women can receive from these benefits.  The funding would also increase the reimbursement rates for these added dental services provided to individuals on Medicaid who currently receive these services.  The legislation also includes $21.9 million in general revenue for additional funding for an increase in Medicaid managed care providers’ cost-to-continue, inflation, and utilization.

These budget bills now go back to the House.  If the Senate’s revisions are not approved by the other chamber, then differences between the two versions must ultimately be approved by a conference committee made up of members of the Senate Appropriations and the House Budget committees.  Once the House and Senate agree on a final plan, all 13 budget bills are delivered to the governor.  The governor can only line-item veto budget bills — nullifying or cancelling specific provisions of a bill without vetoing the entire legislative package. 

The General Assembly’s constitutional deadline for completing the state’s operating budget is one week before the end of the legislative session.  This year, deadline falls on Friday, May 9.  The last day of the 2014 regular session is Friday, May 16. 

To follow these budget bills and other measures moving through the legislative process during the 2014 session, visit www.senate.mo.gov.