Missouri governor OKs $700M budget hike, mainly for Medicaid

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. � Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has approved an additional $700 million of spending this year.

Greitens signed the supplemental budget bill last week.

The measure adds roughly $705 million in spending authority to this fiscal year�s $27.7 billion budget. The fiscal year ends in June.

It mostly covers funding for higher-than-expected costs in the Medicaid health-care program for low-income residents. Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Dan Brown has said Medicaid costs make up about $622 million of the increase.

Most of the money is federal spending. State general revenue accounts for only $162 million of the increased spending, but that�s more than what lawmakers initially expected to spend on the mid-year budget adjustment.