Cottonwood back in budget; whether it stays is uncertain

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A nearly $3.2 million appropriation that would enable the Cottonwood Children's Residential Treatment Center to remain open is -- for the moment at least -- back in the state budget.

In the state spending plan he presented to the Missouri Legislature last month, Gov. Bob Holden, a Democrat, suggested eliminating funding for the Cape Girardeau facility.

House Budget Committee chairman Carl Bearden, R-St. Charles, said the money used to reinstate Cottonwood's funding for the fiscal year beginning July 1 didn't come from cuts to any particular state agency or program but resulted from a number of adjustments in the various appropriations bills that make up the state budget.

Bearden said the final size of the appropriation and source of the funds remains subject to change.

'Work in progress'"It is still a work in progress, but we believe it will remain in the final product," Bearden said.

The budget process is still in its early phases. House committee action and passage by the full chamber is needed before the appropriations bills go to the Senate, where the approval process is repeated.

Differences between the spending plans approved by the two chambers will then have to be worked out before a final budget is returned to the governor by the constitutional deadline of May 7.

House Majority Floor Leader Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, said he is hopeful that because at the start of the fiscal year, Cottonwood will be certified to receive federal reimbursements through Medicaid, which would lessen the center's reliance on state funding.

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said he would work to preserve the money when the budget makes it to the upper chamber.

"We can and will make the tough decisions necessary to save Cottonwood to protect these young people by correctly prioritizing budget choices," Kinder said.

If the funding is eliminated, Cottonwood would close June 15.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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