2010 Legislative Session
January 24th, 2010Greetings from Jefferson City,
The 2010 legislative session is in full swing. As members of Health Appropriations Committee, my colleagues and I have logged almost 30 hours of testimony from members of the public and from the state departments of Health and Senior Services, Mental Health and Social Services. Also, in the Budget Committee we have attended informational meetings about current revenues and projections for the remainder of 2010 and throughout 2011. Although revenues remained down because of the economy, there are hopeful signs that predict small increases by the end of the year.
We celebrated Martin Luther King Day with a moving ceremony in the Capitol rotunda, and I had the opportunity to attend a portion of the celebration of the day of service at Truman State University.
Please come visit us in the Capitol or make contact with me when I am back in the district. Call or email at any time if we can be of service to you or for information about issues or legislation.
Hope you had a good week!
STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS
The evening of Jan.20th, Governor Nixon delivered his second State of the State Address. Gov. Nixon and members of the General Assembly have made clear that this year’s focus will be on one priority: creating jobs.
Number One Priority: 2010 Jobs Package
Gov. Nixon’s three part jobs plan focuses on expanding existing businesses, bringing new high-tech businesses to Missouri, and training workers for high-demand jobs.
Education -
A Long Term Investment in Missouri’s Economic Future
While other states are slashing education, Gov. Nixon’s budget would deliver record funding to Missouri’s classrooms, although the funding will not increase as much as indicated in the foundation formula. During this difficult budget process when cuts are being made across state government, there was only one area that Gov. Nixon took off the table for possible budget cuts: K-12 education funding. You may link to the response of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at http://dese.mo.gov.
Fiscal Discipline -
Balancing the Budget Without Raising Taxes
Gov. Nixon reaffirmed his commitment to balance our budget without raising taxes. A diverse economy and prudent fiscal management has allowed Missouri to continue investing in our priorities: education, job creation, health care and public safety. Other states are raising taxes, shutting down prisons, slashing education funding or cutting health care eligibility to deal with their budget challenges, but not in Missouri.
The governor’s other legislative priorities include tightening loopholes in the state’s drunken driving laws that allow many repeat offenders to avoid increased punishment, requiring insurance companies to provide coverage for the treatment and diagnosis of autism and an ethics reform package that includes restoring the state campaign contributions limits that were repealed in 2008 and prohibiting laundering campaign contributions to obscure the source of the funding.
Lt. Governor Peter Kinder gave the Republican response.
Check out the video or the full text of the Governor’s address here.
Nixon Presents $23.86 Billion Budget
In State Of State
Gov. Jay Nixon outlined a nearly $23.86 billion state operating budget for fiscal year beginning July 1. Although the proposed budget would increase overall spending by about 3 percent compared to the previous year, it includes funding cuts to most areas of state government.
One exception is elementary and secondary education, which would see a modest $18 million increase to the $3 billion in state funds distributed to local school districts. And although the governor recommends a 5 percent reduction in funding for public colleges and universities, the state’s higher education institutions have agreed to freeze tuition for the second year in a row in exchange for keeping the cut at that level.
To keep the budget for the current fiscal year in balance, Nixon cut an additional $50 million from the operating budget and eliminated another $150 million in spending on construction projects.
Nixon said job creation must be the No. 1 priority of the legislative session in order to boost Missouri’s economy and improve state revenue collections. Nixon’s 2010 Jobs Plan calls for putting more emphasis on helping existing Missouri businesses expand, providing additional incentives for technology and research firms and greater investment in job training.
Public hearings and overviews of each of the state departments have already been ongoing in the House and the Senate. Now, withe the Governor’s recommendations before us, work on the FY 2011 budget will begin in earnest. The appropriations committees will complete their recommendations to the budget committee, and then the budget committee will prepare the budget bills for debate on the House floor. After the budget bills pass the House, usually by early March, they will be sent to the Senate for their consideration.
