General Assembly to begin budget talks
Published Feb. 28, 2006
The Missouri General Assembly will begin negotiations on the state budget Wednesday, including whether to approve Gov. Matt Blunt's recommendation to increase higher education funding by $17 million.
The House of Representatives education appropriations committee approved Blunt's increase last week. The committee's recommendation will now go before the House budget committee.
Rep. Ed Robb, R-Columbia, said he anticipates much debate about the budget.
"I would assume that we'll be having lengthy and heated debate," Robb said.
The budget committee, which is responsible for presenting a state budget to the full legislature, will meet twice per day for the rest of March, Robb said.
"Other representatives will want to see more money go into Medicaid and K-12 education for next fiscal year," Robb said.
The education appropriations committee recommended a total of $985 million for higher education in the next fiscal year, which begins in July, according to a document from the Missouri Department of Higher Education.
Rep. Kathlyn Fares, R-Webster Groves, who is the chairwoman of the education appropriations committee, said she was content with the committee's recommendations.
"As a whole, we felt good about the decisions we made," Fares said, "but you never know if money will be taken away from the source."
Last week, the House higher-education committee heard testimony on bills that would allow the student representative to the governing boards of several public universities to vote with the other members of the board.
House Bill 1229 requires the student representative to have an official vote and is sponsored by Rep. Bryan Pratt, R-Blue Springs, and Jim Avery, R-St. Louis County.
Maria Curtis, the student representative to the UM system Board of Curators, and Jon Lorenz, a lobbyist for the Associated Student of the University of Missouri, testified in support of the bills.
"We are the major shareholders," Curtis said during her testimony. "To me, this is the foundation of American democracy — the ability to vote on issues of importance to one's life. I believe a voting student will make the board much stronger and more accountable to their constituency — the students."
Curtis said she thought the legislators responded positively to her presentation after she got the chance to interact with them.
"I thought it went well," Curtis said. "It's very important, and we are working incredibly hard for this."
Rep. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, said that though he respects Curtis's opinion, he would not support the bill.
"When you have the other board members, they serve for six years," Pearce said. "When you have student curators, they are missing out on that continuity."