Missouri legislators will go on a weeklong break from Jefferson City beginning Monday.
When they return, passage of the fiscal 2025 budget and the Federal Reimbursement Allowance, which helps fund most of Medicaid, are two high-profile items that still must be tackled.
House Budget Chair Cody Smith, R-Carthage, said Thursday his initial proposed operating budget is just under $50 billion, which he says is about $2 billion less than Gov. Mike Parson proposed in January.
“This budget also prioritizes public safety, transportation infrastructure and public education,” Smith said.
Some of the highlights Smith touched on include:
- Fully funding the state’s foundation formula for public schools as well as the state’s share of school transportation funding.
- Over $727 million toward rebuilding Interstate 44.
- $1.5 billion for broadband access.
- $8 million for the Missouri National Guard to go to the Texas-Mexico border.
Smith also said Parson’s proposal to provide 3.2% raises to state workers remains in the budget.
Last session, some representatives objected to how little time they had to reevaluate the budget once the Senate sent it back to the House.
Smith said he plans on communicating with the Senate “early and often” to make sure the House has enough time to evaluate the Senate’s changes to the budget.
“We will make sure that we allow ourselves enough time to take a good look at it,” Smith said.
The ranking minority member for the House Budget Committee, Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, said the time Smith takes to send out his proposed budget contributes to that rushed time.
“Later and later, [Smith] sends that to us and later and later we send it over to the Senate, and that's where the time crunch happens,” Merideth said.
Money for Medicaid
The other must-pass item this legislative session is the Federal Reimbursement Allowance, which is a tax on hospitals and other providers that funds the bulk of Missouri’s Medicaid program.
The last time the FRA was up for renewal, it took a special session to eventually pass it. This time around, there is continued conflict between some Republicans on whether anti-abortion language should be included within the FRA.
The current version of the bill, sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, does not have that language. It also does not have a sunset, meaning the FRA would not have to go through the renewal process again.
While the FRA was initially the first bill set for debate on the Senate floor, discussion has not yet happened.
Speaking on the FRA, Senate Majority Floor Leader Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, said Thursday it needs to be passed.
“We all understand that we're not going to not renew a $4.5 billion fund that pays for our nursing homes and our rural hospitals and people that are really vulnerable,” O’Laughlin said.
Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, said he does not understand why the Senate has not yet had a lengthy debate on the issue.
“It seems like there's a lot of things that have gotten a lot of time on the floor that are way less impactful than the FRA,” Rizzo said.
Members of the Freedom Caucus want anti-abortion language on the FRA.
Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, said if the legislature does not pass a bill that would stop public funds from going to abortion providers and its affiliates like Planned Parenthood, a “clean” FRA isn’t passing.
“Until that happens, it's going to be an issue with this Freedom Caucus,” Brattin said.
Such a bill has already passed the House and has been debated once in the Senate this session.
Under the legislation passed in the House, Planned Parenthood clinics in Missouri, which do not currently provide abortions but do offer other reproductive health services like contraceptive access and cancer screenings, would not receive public funds. The legislature has tried similar efforts before that have been struck down by courts.
Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, said the House is waiting for the Senate to pass the FRA first.
“I believe it's a bipartisan belief that we need to pass it clean. I believe the House will stand firm and pass a good FRA,” Plocher said.
House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, said there are concerns that the passage of the FRA will once again require a special session.
She also said the effort to pass a clean FRA is now even more complicated due to the recent court ruling in Alabama against in vitro fertilization.
“We have senators actively saying that they do not think that IVF should be allowed in the state of Missouri. And so I have full [belief] that the FRA is going to be hijacked by these extremists who want women to have absolutely zero say in their health care matters,” Quade said.
Lawmakers will return to Jefferson City on March 25.
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