$30B state spending plan approved in wee hours, contains $8M for flood victims

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer speaks during a news conference at the Capitol as Sen. Dan Hegeman, Senate Appropriations chair, listens./Photo courtesy of Sen. Luetkemeyer office

Missouri lawmakers agreed to a nearly $30 billion state spending plan for the next fiscal year after clearing a last-minute hurdle.

House budget negotiators insisted on keeping a provision in the budget that would prohibit students in the country illegally from receiving in-state college tuition, including DACA children.

State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Republican from Parkville, says he’s pleased the budget passed without a tax increase.

“One of the things that I talked about whenever I campaigned is that we need to be in government living within our means and this year the Missouri legislature said we’re going to live within our means, we’re not going to raise taxes, and we’re going to find priorities that we need to fund, like higher education and K-through-12 education and making sure we’re getting relief to the flood victims who have been impacted by the recent flooding,” Luetkemeyer tells St. Joseph Post. “We were able to do all that without raising anyone’s taxes.”

The budget approved in the early morning hours by the General Assembly increases funding to public schools by $61 million, fully funding the school Foundation Formula.

The budget also includes an increase to the core budgets of Missouri public colleges and universities.

“And so, Missouri Western, which is obviously in my district in St. Joe, received a $1 million increase to its core funding,” Luetkemeyer says. “This is after years of cuts to higher education. And so that’s an important victory, making sure that we’re keeping higher education affordable for Missouri families is critically important and I’m happy we were able to get that done.”

The budget also includes $8 million to help offset the losses to flood victims. The money can be used to provide the state and local match for expected federal assistance.

Members of the Missouri House approved the spending plan, then sent it to the Senate which wrapped up work on it in the very early hours of this morning. The budget now goes to Gov. Mike Parson.