A review of Gov. Parson's state of the state address

Greetings from Jefferson City! I hope this update finds you and your family doing well and in good health!

Session started this year on Jan. 3, and has been slow to get started. As some of you have read, there have been some interesting "differences of opinion" in the Senate that slowed some work getting accomplished. On the House side, we've had some weather delays, but the House is hard at work and committees are getting bills heard. There have been 1,254 House bills, House Joint Resolutions and House Concurrent Resolutions filed at the time of this update. Legislation can be filed until Friday, March 1. I assume more will be filed.

I would like to focus this report on Gov. Mike Parson's State of the State speech. As he enters his last year as the 57th governor of the State of Missouri, he addressed past accomplishments for the state under his tenure and spoke about his goals for the final year of service as our governor.

Gov. Parson praised his department directors, state employees and staff for all their hard work through some of the toughest situations the state and nation has faced during his tenure. He made a point to thank his family, and you could tell he was emotional while speaking of the love and support he received from his family.

Gov. Parson's highlights from 2024 State of the State Fiscal Policy/Economy are as follows:

• During Gov. Parson's tenure, Missouri has enacted three separate tax cuts, including the largest one in the State of Missouri's history, reducing Missourians' tax burden by over 20%.
• Gov. Parson paid down our state-owed debt by $600 million over six years, equaling 53% less debt since 2018 while maintaining Missouri's AAA credit rating.
• Under the governor's administration, Missouri ranks 15th in the nation for job creation. Our state has added 110,000 jobs to our economy all while we saw the lowest unemployment rate in our state's history at 2.1%.

Education/Workforce

• This year, the governor recommended $121 million to fully fund the foundation formula and an additional $14 million to help fund school transportation. Since he has been in office, Gov. Parson has continually invested the future of our state by investing into our children's education.
• Gov. Parson also is recommending increasing our teacher's salaries to $40,000, up from the previous $38,000 recommended two years ago. With this increase, state support for teachers' salaries will have increased by $15,000 (from $25,000 to $40,000).
• Gov. Parson's administration has made investments in Missouri's higher education institutions a priority and continued to do so this year with a 3% core funding increase, which equals a total of a 24% increase for higher education institutions since 2018.
• This year, the governor recommended an additional $54.4 million in the MOExcels Program to facilitate the development of employer-driven workforce education and training programs in high-demand occupations at Missouri's higher education institutions.

This administration has also made historic investments of $1.2 billion in state-of-the-art capital improvement projects changing how Missouri conducts research and trains our workforce of tomorrow while supporting our communities. This includes projects all over the state, including:

• Energy Infrastructure Modernizations at Northwest Missouri State University;
• Supply Chain Workforce Education at State Technical College;
• Center for Workforce and Student Success at Ozarks Technical Community College;
• Health Sciences and Crisis Center at Lincoln University;
• The Health and Sciences District Development at UMKC;
• NextGen Precision Health at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Gov. Parson also made great investments in our workforce with:

• $6 million to a new Upskill Credentialing Program;
• $10 million to semiconductor research, development and skills training ;
• $7 million to support critical minerals development in Missouri.

Children/Families

• The child care crisis in Missouri is not going to simply fix itself. I applaud the governor for leading on this issue by proposing three new child care tax credit programs to help improve access and affordability for families, increasing subsidy rates to ensure stability of the child care industry and to ensure low income families can be served.
• Last year, Gov. Parson led the charge to expand Pre-K programs in Missouri with putting dollars within the state budget. This year, he is asking the General Assembly to codify these changes to ensure long lasting changes. These programs are vital to getting children in the classroom learning quicker, so that they are better equipped for a quality education.
• Building on the success of last year, I want to thank the governor for recommending increased funding for fetal and maternal mortality prevention plans. These dollars will go to provide support and address preventable deaths of babies and expectant and postpartum mothers in Missouri.
• Fentanyl deaths are all too often preventable, yet they continue to wreak havoc on Missourians and their families. Gov. Parson has recommended stricter punishments for adults who would expose children and minors to fentanyl. Child deaths from fentanyl are 100% preventable.

Infrastructure

• Gov. Parson has made historic investments in our state infrastructure, preparing our state for growth in the years to come. This includes the growth of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan from $2.5 billion to $14 billion.
• The historic investment our state made last year to expand Interstate 70 was a big deal that many didn't think we'd ever see. This year, the governor has made bold decisions to start laying the foundation of expanding another major interstate by setting up the I-44 Improvement Fund.
• The governor and General Assembly have already made historic investments in improving access to broadband across the state to the tune of over $400 million dollars. Now, thanks to former Sen. Roy Blunt and Gov. Parson's administration, we can continue working toward connecting every Missourian with the $1.7 billion coming into our state.

As the legislative session gets underway, if you are interested in following any particular legislation that may be of importance or concern to you, please visit www.house.mo.gov/LegislationSP.aspx, where you can type in the bill number (ex. HB 2402) or keyword ("right to repair") and access all information relating to any bills that have been filed in either the House or Senate.

As always, it is a privilege to serve you! Please reach out to me at any time with your questions, thoughts or comments on any issues affecting our state, and also if you need any assistance. If you're ever in the vicinity of the Capitol, please stop by my office for a visit.

Barry Hovis is the state representative for District 146 in the Missouri General Assembly.