Savings freed money for higher ed
Missouri Budget Director Larry Schepker said social services will likely need less money than previously expected.
Published Jan. 20, 2006
Savings from a Medicaid bill that freed $600 million of Missouri's budget might have played a part in Gov. Matt Blunt's decision to propose a $17 million increase to state funding for higher education, Missouri Budget Director Larry Schepker said.
The December 2005 Senate bill shrinks the amount of funding for Medicaid, based on revised estimates from the Department of Social Services. Schepker said the previous assessments from October predicted Medicaid costs would be much higher — more than $900 million.
"That amount would have consumed more than all of our projected state revenue growth," Schepker said.
In November, General Assembly budget projections warned of a potential $100 million budget deficit.
"The numbers the departments of social services, mental health and health and senior services were presenting to us in October were very high and very disconcerting," Schepker said.
In December, state government economists changed their revenue estimate for the year. The budget office upgraded its original prediction of 2.5 percent revenue growth to 4.5 percent for fiscal year 2007, which starts in July.
"Between November and January, we were able to suggest some additional funding options to the governor's office," Schepker said.
In his Jan. 11 State of the State address, Blunt pledged $250 million for Medicaid, as well as the higher education increase.
Despite the increase in funds, many members of the General Assembly said they believed higher education needs more appropriations.
"Those of us in the legislature are clearly dissatisfied that the government would fail to keep up with inflation," Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, said. "It has been this way for five years."
Nikki Krawitz, UM system vice president for finance and administration, also said the funding increase was less than the rate of inflation.
"There is a gap between what funding the governor proposed and the CPI (Consumer Price Index)," Krawitz said.
UM system President Elson Floyd's most recent proposal for a tuition plan relies upon higher education funding increasing at the same rate as inflation to avoid tuition increases beyond the rate of inflation.
Several Republican representatives, who praised Blunt's pledge for more higher education funding, said they wanted to see additional funding increases, but said they believed the money just wasn't available.
Rep. Gayle Kingery, R-Poplar Bluff, chairman of the House higher education committee, said he felt though funding for higher education still was below what it should be, other branches of the government were a higher priority for the legislature.
"We have an awful lot of obligations," Kingery said. "Higher education is just one."
Rep. Kathlyn Fares, R-Webster Groves, also said more money was not available.
"You don't spend what you don't have," Fares said.
House Minority Leader Rep. Jeff Harris, D-Columbia, said he felt state higher education funding was too low.
"I hope that we can do better than what the governor suggested," Harris said, adding that the 2 percent increase was a little more than one-third of the average state funding increase for higher education.