Senator Karla Eslinger's Legislative Column for Jan. 23, 2023


Monday, January 23, 2023

Funding Education and Development

On Jan. 18, the Missouri General Assembly convened in a joint session in the House of Representatives’ chamber to listen to the governor deliver his annual State of the State Address. In the speech, the governor outlined his legislative priorities and highlighted his budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2024. I’d like to discuss a few of his proposals relating to workforce development, education, infrastructure and public safety, which I believe are important to those of us who live in the 33rd Senatorial District.

In May 2022, the Missouri Legislature passed a historic education budget that not only fully funded the school Foundation Formula, which distributes state resources to pay for K-12 education in our state, but also pays the state’s full share of local school transportation costs. We also funded for the first time a career ladder program for teachers and grants to increase starting pay for teachers. I’m happy to report the budget recommendations presented by the governor this week renews each of these programs for the coming fiscal year.

New for the coming year, the governor has called for increased funding for early childhood education and pre-kindergarten programs. Legislation I’ve sponsored this year, Senate Bill 495, accomplishes this goal by changing the way the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education calculates funding for early childhood education programs.

As the governor recounted accomplishments of the past year, he pointed to expanded availability of high speed internet services, especially in rural Missouri. Bringing more and better internet access to underserved areas of the 33rd District is one of my top priorities, and I was pleased the governor asked for an additional $250 million in FY 2024 to fund broadband expansion. The governor’s request comes on the heels of $344 million budgeted for rural broadband in Missouri’s current budget. In late-breaking news, this week we learned how the FY2023 broadband money will be distributed. I’m happy to report more than $47 million will go to White River Valley Electric Cooperative to provide internet services in Christian, Douglas, Ozark, Stone and Taney counties.

Addressing public safety, the governor touted the accomplishments of the Missouri Blue Scholarship Program. Begun last year, this program helps pay for recruits to attend law enforcement academies. So far, 147 Missourians have already earned scholarships and are training to become the next generation of police officers.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I’ll have an opportunity to dig into each of the governor’s spending proposals in depth during the coming months. He’s put a lot of good ideas before us, but we’ll have to look at each one to make sure they represent a wise use of taxpayer money. As a proud Missourian, and an especially proud resident of the Ozarks, I always have the best interests of my fellow citizens and the district I serve at heart. I applaud the governor for his leadership and I look forward to looking at his numbers closely with both eyes open and focused on moving our state forward.

It is my honor to serve the residents of Douglas, Howell, Ozark, Shannon, Stone, Taney and Texas counties in the Missouri Senate, and it’s always a pleasure to hear from friends and family back home. If I can help you in any way, please call my Capitol Office at 573-751-1882.  You can also visit my webpage at senate.mo.gov/mem33, on Facebook: @SenatorKarlaEslinger, or follow me on Twitter: @seneslingermo.