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Missouri Senate Slow to Act on Budget
The Missouri Senate this week took no action to re-authorize the Federal Reimbursement Allowance (FRA) which is so important to the budget process. In addition, the Senate Appropriations committee did not meet to review the budget bills passed by the House several weeks ago, signaling that the Senate is waiting for the House to take up and pass the bill defunding Planned Parenthood before it will move the budget process forward. It is expected that the Senate Appropriations Committee will begin budget deliberations next week, but it is unclear when the Senate as a whole will debate the FRA bill on the floor.
Missouri House Passes Education Scholarship Accounts Bill
The big news for the week is that the House truly agreed and finally passed SB 727, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Koenig (R-Manchester). SB 727 revises the education scholarship tax credit program by increasing from $50M to $75M the cap on the amount of credits that can be redeemed in any given year. The bill also allows charter schools to open in Columbia (Boone County), Missouri and increases base pay for public school teachers from $25,000 to $40,000 beginning in the ’25-26 school year.
There are only four more weeks in the legislative session, which ends on May 17th.
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