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Both parties claimed successes in a state budget that increased spending on roads and education. But a great deal of time was spent on Republican efforts to restrict the rights of transgender residents, while other priorities never made it to a vote.
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The state funding is divided into two pots; more than $55 million is set aside for school districts and charter schools, while about $26 million is available for community-based child care providers. The programs are supposed to prioritize low-income families.
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The budget includes a $2.8 billion plan to fully expand Interstate 70 to three lanes in each direction, funding for teacher raises as well as money for public libraries. It also has $50 million to go toward stadium improvements for the World Cup in Kansas City.
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The Senate’s plan to go beyond the $860 million initially proposed to expand Interstate 70 remained in the budget agreed to by a Senate-House conference committee Wednesday night. Other Senate positions that remained were state funding for public libraries and the elimination of anti-DEI language in the budget.
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The Senate’s proposed budget is $4.2 billion more than what the Missouri House passed weeks ago. Like in the House, most of the debate in the Senate was spent over an amendment that would have inserted language against diversity, equity and inclusion.
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A Missouri rule outlaws school libraries from offering books with "explicit sexual material," and threatens librarians with jail time and hefty fines. Meanwhile, the House voted to strip all state funding for libraries. But some librarians are fighting back.
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The Missouri House had voted to prohibit spending for “staffing, vendors, consultants, or programs associated with diversity, equity and inclusion.” But Senate Appropriations Chair Lincoln Hough said after speaking with departments, businesses and vendors, he recommended removing that language.
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Gov. Mike Parson requested $859 million from the Missouri legislature to widen three sections of Interstate 70, including from Blue Springs to Odessa. But House Budget Committee chair Cody Smith says there's little chance of federal aid for the project.
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In both Kansas and Missouri, lawmakers are focusing heavily on the state budget, education issues, and targeting the rights of transgender residents.
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Missouri library leaders say a plan by state legislators to strip funding for public libraries across the state would weaken rural libraries, and likely violates the state constitution.
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Instead of speaking on the billions of dollars within the Missouri budget, House Democrats repeatedly spoke out against language added to each bill that prohibits spending on anything associated with diversity, equity and inclusion. That language is expected to be stripped out in the Senate.
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The budget is less than Gov. Mike Parson’s initial proposal, and eliminates funding for a pre-K program and for public libraries. Democrats and Republicans repeatedly clashed over language that bans staffing for any programs or vendors "associated with diversity, equity and inclusion."