From my perspective, the past month has been an unprecedented time in our state’s history. Even if you take into account any of the wars that have disrupted life in this nation’s history, or the influenza pandemic of 1918, I believe the actions taken and the results seen are different than what we are going through right now, and we are still not yet in the clear.
To this end, the Missouri General Assembly has been away from the Capitol for nearly a month, until last week, when lawmakers came back to the Capitol to work on items meant to get past this current pandemic and its economic consequences. The Legislature worked tirelessly to fast-track major changes to the supplemental budget for the current fiscal year. We still do not have all of the details about the federal government’s stimulus bill, known as the CARES Act, but we hope to have more information in the next week or so.
House Bill 2014 authorizes additional funding for essential services through June 30, which is the end of Fiscal Year 2020. On April 7, the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee spent hours going through these changes, line by line. The following day, the full Senate passed the bill and sent it back to the Missouri House of Representatives for approval. All told, the supplemental budget authorizes more than $6 billion in spending, the vast majority of that money coming from the federal government. It is still unclear exactly how much money we will draw from Washington, D.C., but the legislation we approved gives the governor the flexibility to respond to the COVID-19 crisis as it develops.
We also passed House Bill 2456, which is the federal reimbursement allowance extension we have to pass each year; otherwise, those benefits would not reach hospitals after Sept. 30 of this year. With the governor’s signature, this program would be extended through September 2021. I believe this program is more critical than ever as hospitals struggle to meet the regular needs of our citizens, at the same time they are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
What the Legislature does from here remains to be seen. My main concern right now is to get people healthy and move past this pandemic. We only have a month left in the 2020 legislative session, and we still need to pass a budget for Fiscal Year 2021. While so many people want to return to work and get back to their lives, I believe we must use caution and listen to our country’s health care experts. These are certainly trying times, but we can overcome them by doing our part and working together.
As always, please feel free to call, email or write with your ideas or concerns. My Capitol office number is (573) 751-1415, my email is dan.hegeman@senate.mo.gov and my mailing address is Room 332, State Capitol Building, Jefferson City, MO 65101.