state budget

Missouri's 2025 state budget includes less than a third of the federal funding the state received for Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program grants. More than a dozen producers with selected projects are without funding for now.

This year’s budget process was criticized by the governor and lawmakers over a lack of transparency.

Missouri's 2024 legislative session is back after spring break. The annual state budget and a tax that funds the bulk of Missouri’s Medicaid program are two things that must pass this session. Plus: Some Kansas lawmakers say improving their compensation is key to recruiting young and working class people to run for office.

The annual state budget and a tax that funds the bulk of Missouri’s Medicaid program are two things that must pass this session. And before the break, senators passed a major education bill that included priorities for both Republicans and Democrats.

The number of Kansas students who are chronically missing school has nearly doubled in the past two years. Plus: Missouri Gov. Mike Parson vetoed more than a half a billion dollars in spending from the state budget, but lawmakers have a chance to override.

Gov. Mike Parson slashed more than $555 million from the state’s $51 billion budget last week, despite the state’s record-setting $8 billion surplus. Here’s what got axed locally.

The court ruled that the Missouri Conservation Commission — not lawmakers — has the power to spend appropriated funds. The decision could influence a pending Cole County case over how much Department of Transportation employees get paid.

Both parties claimed successes in a state budget that increased spending on roads and education. But a great deal of time was spent on Republican efforts to restrict the rights of transgender residents, while other priorities never made it to a vote.

The budget includes a $2.8 billion plan to fully expand Interstate 70 to three lanes in each direction, funding for teacher raises as well as money for public libraries. It also has $50 million to go toward stadium improvements for the World Cup in Kansas City.

Missouri library leaders say a plan by state legislators to strip funding for public libraries across the state would weaken rural libraries, and likely violates the state constitution.

Instead of speaking on the billions of dollars within the Missouri budget, House Democrats repeatedly spoke out against language added to each bill that prohibits spending on anything associated with diversity, equity and inclusion. That language is expected to be stripped out in the Senate.

The budget is less than Gov. Mike Parson’s initial proposal, and eliminates funding for a pre-K program and for public libraries. Democrats and Republicans repeatedly clashed over language that bans staffing for any programs or vendors "associated with diversity, equity and inclusion."