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Buckle up, it's the Missouri General Assembly's final week

Lawmakers in Missouri are fresh off of passing the biggest budget in state history. Now the General Assembly has just a few days left to make decisions on several big issues, all just a few months before an election.

Friday was the deadline under Missouri law for the General Assembly to pass a budget for the coming fiscal year. Legislators met the deadline in a series of bipartisan votes — funding education, health care and social services — totaling more than $49 billion. Bolstered by federal COVID-19 relief funds, it’s the largest budget in state history, and now heads to Gov. Mike Parson’s desk.

With the budget out of the way, Missouri lawmakers now buckle down for the last week of the session, which ends 6 p.m. Friday, May 13. The House and Senate have passed only a handful of bills out of the hundreds that were introduced, including some prominent items that have become even more controversial in this election year.

KCUR's Brian Elision spoke with Jason Hancock, editor-in-chief of the Missouri Independent, to discuss what to expect from these next five days in Jefferson City.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR onTwitter andFacebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love, Trevor Grandin, and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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As a host and contributor at KCUR, I seek to create a more informed citizenry and richer community. I want to enlighten and inspire our audience by delivering the information they need with accuracy and urgency, clarifying what’s complicated and teasing out the complexities of what seems simple. I work to craft conversations that reveal realities in our midst and model civil discourse in a divided world. Follow me on Twitter @ptsbrian or email me at brian@kcur.org.
As an on-demand producer, I am focused on using my skills and experiences across multiple digital applications, platforms and media fields to create community focused audio, video and on-demand products for KCUR Studios. The media that I produce aims to inform, entertain and connect with the Kansas City metro area as we continue to learn from each other. Email me at byronlove@kcur.org.
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