Missouri House advances state budget

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's Republican-led House on Thursday passed a roughly $46 billion state spending plan bulked up with federal pandemic aid.

While some GOP lawmakers warned the current budget proposal spends too much too quickly, primarily Democratic critics decried Republicans for not spending enough and leaving $1.8 billion unspent.

"It is fiscal immaturity, it is fiscal irresponsibility, it is fiscal danger to operate with the idea that because we have money, we ought to spend that money," said Republican Rep. Doug Richey, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Federal Stimulus Spending.

House Democrats said leaving so much money unallocated would give senators more leverage to appropriate it for pet projects without any feedback from the House, which Senate leaders said likely will happen to some extent.

Senate Republican Majority Leader Caleb Rowden said he expects the Senate to find ways to spend some -- but not all -- of that $1.8 billion the House has not appropriated. He said the Senate is likely to strike a middle ground in spending between what the governor proposed and the House approved.

"Leaving money in a rainy day fund, doing things to find value for those dollars is really, really important," Rowden said.

The House's proposed budget plan includes close to $2 billion in federal funding to help K-12 schools recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, including $75 million set aside for a newly proposed grant program to repay families for tutoring and other expenses aimed at helping students catch up.

Another roughly $464 million is budgeted to prop up child care services in the state, including $10 million for on-site child care at state agencies and another $10 million for child care co-ops at private businesses.

The additional child care funding was lauded by the influential Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry as a way to boost the strained workforce.

"There are parents all across Missouri who are locked out of the workforce because of childcare issues," Missouri Chamber President and CEO Daniel Mehan said in a statement. "This problem is creating a serious impediment to our economic recovery -- and we need urgent action."

Public colleges and universities would get a 5.4% budget increase, not including extra money for building improvements and other projects. Despite the increase, a bipartisan group of lawmakers failed to secure enough money to pay for Lincoln University's land-grant match.

The current budget plan also would bar schools, colleges and other organizations accepting public funding from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a recent coronavirus test for access to ticketed events.