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Missouri Senate nears budget deadline as leaders press divergent education priorities
Summary
With about five weeks left in the regular session, Missouri Senate leaders signaled competing priorities for the state budget: the majority leader said the chamber could review the governor's proposals after the House drafts the bill, while the minority leader called for restoring school funding and removing $50 million from a voucher program.
Reporting from the state capital, Dean Morgan said the Missouri Senate entered the final five weeks of its regular session as lawmakers prepared to finalize the state budget that, by law, must be delivered to the governor by 6 p.m. on Friday, May 9; the new fiscal year begins July 1.
The budget is the legislature's only constitutionally mandated duty, and senators signaled differing priorities ahead of the House's formal budget draft. Missouri Senate Majority Floor Leader Tony Luke Demeyer of Parkville said the full Senate could discuss the governor's budget priorities after the House takes the initial step of drafting the budget.
Missouri Senate Minority Floor Leader Doug Beck of Afton urged stronger investment in education. "They're gonna be looking to fully fund the formula to put that $300,000,000 back into it," Beck said. He added, "I would imagine they're trying to get that $50,000,000 of taxpayer money out of the voucher program."
By law, the budget must reach the governor by 6 p.m. on Friday, May 9, and Missouri's next fiscal year begins on July 1, Dean Morgan reported. The session comments in the transcript focused on timing and priority-setting; no formal budget action or vote was recorded in the provided transcript excerpt.
Lawmakers now face competing proposals as the House prepares its budget draft and the Senate considers amendments and priorities before the statutory delivery deadline.
