General Assembly Passes Fiscal Year 2010 Budget
by Chuck Gatschenberger
May 8, 2009
Jefferson City, MO
May 8 was to be the deadline for the State of Missouri’s General Assembly to pass the FY2010 budget. This often means there are late nights and heated debates about where to allocate funds. However, this year we’ve seen a change of pace. For the most part, finalization went quite smoothly, with a willingness to work across the aisle.
To jumpstart the process, the budget conference committees met earlier this week to try and iron out the differences between the House and the Senate, in addition to conflicts between the parties.
When the conference committee reports hit the House floor for approval on Wednesday, for the most part, the compromises made by the committee members were accepted with bipartisan support. One main controversy remained between the Senate and the House, however.
The Senate put your hard-earned tax dollars into funding an expansion of welfare, and that premise was not well received in the Missouri House of Representatives. We voted on that bill, House Bill 11, and after several tense moments, the bill failed 85 – 78. We sent that bill back to conference to eliminate funds to expanding welfare.
On Thursday, the committee returned the bill to the House floor. The committee replaced the across-the-board increase in eligibility to welfare, with a program that would preserve our valuable health care resources for the truly needy. These are people who have existing health conditions and are truly sick and need our help. The legislation to create this program called Show-Me Health Coverage, is set out in Senate Bill 306, which still must be approved by both the House and the Senate.
I am very pleased with the changes made to the House Bill 11. Please know that I am a strong advocate for helping Missourians in need. However, given the current economic situation of our country and state, it is neither smart nor responsible to allocate more funding for welfare. That is why I could not support the original bill. With the new bill language, we have passed a budget that continues our constitutional requirement of passing a balanced budget, without expanding the role of government.
As always, please let me know your thoughts about these or other matters of concern by calling my office at 573-751-3572 or by e-mailing me at chuck.gatschenberger@house.mo.gov.
Copyright 2009 Neighbors About Town
