State budget moves to House
Published April 12, 2005
With the May 6 budget deadline weeks away, the Missouri House of Representatives is working overtime to move the state budget through the General Assembly.
The House Budget Committee passed all 13 budget bills Friday and sent them to the House Rules Committee. Representatives plan to begin debate at 2 p.m. today.
The Budget Committee spent much of last week debating the bills.
Budget Committee chairman Brad Lager, R-Maryville, said he thought the budget hearings went well.
"We had a committee that moved things forward in a very professional atmosphere," Lager said. "We have crafted a very reasonable and responsible budget for fiscal year 2006."
The Rules Committee this year had the option to limit debate on bills, and decided on a 12-hour limit. That limit gives the House an average of an hour per bill.
"I think that provides adequate time," he said. "It forces people to get up there and say what's important and not just get up there and talk."
In the committee's version of House Bill 3, the bill regarding higher education funding, the UM system receives the same appropriation as last year.
This puts higher education somewhere in the middle of the legislature's priorities. Lawmakers proposed almost $380 million in cuts to social services, including Medicaid. Lawmakers also proposed a $100 million increase to K-12 education funding.
In his State of the State Address, Gov. Matt Blunt promised not to cut higher education funding.
However, Minority Floor Leader Jeff Harris, D-Columbia, said he is disappointed with the flat appropriation.
"It is unfortunate that our university's budget is being flat-lined," Harris said. "Our governor has made it clear that he doesn't value higher education. The right thing to do is to better support higher education and to better support our parents and students."
Harris said one of the problems with a flat appropriation is it causes tuition increases, which make it harder for parents to afford college.
Lager said the flat appropriation is a success given the state's financial situation.
"I think that in a year that we just got through, for a billion-dollar budget to be held harmless, I think is a great success," Lager said. "I am hopeful we will begin to increase higher education funding."
Harris said he doesn't put much stock in the Republicans' promise to deal and focus on higher education in the future.
"They haven't fixed elementary and secondary education this year," Harris said. "I'm not optimistic."
Lager said he doesn't understand critics who consistently complain about many of the cuts in the budget.
"This budget is $200 million more than in fiscal year 2005," Lager said. "We're not spending less. We're slowing the rate of growth in the government."
Harris said he has little faith in Blunt's promises regarding higher education after he withheld more than $100 million from colleges, with the promise to pay it back in the summer.
"There's no guarantee they'll ever see that money," he said.
