House committee approves budget

The House Budget Committee approved a budget after only a day and a half of discussion.

By Jedd Rosche

Published March 3, 2006

After only a day and a half of discussion, the Missouri General Assembly Budget Committee approved a recommendation for next year's budget.

The budget committee met for the first time Wednesday morning to analyze recommendations from its six subcommittees. By Thursday afternoon, the committee of 27 representatives had their last of three votes, approving the budget and sending it for a vote on the House floor.

"We approved all of the bills last night with the first vote," said Rep. Allen Icet, R-Wildwood. "The second vote and the finalized vote were this Thursday."

This past week, the Education Appropriations Committee approved a recommendation from Gov. Matt Blunt to increase higher education funding by $17 million. The committee recommended a total of $985 million should be spent on higher education.

Representative Margaret Donnelly, D-St. Louis, said Democrats united behind an alternate proposal that would have increased higher education funding at a greater rate.

"I voted against the higher education budget," she said.

Donnelly, a member of the budget committee, said Democrats felt appropriations should increase at least at the rate of inflation.

"We felt two percent increase was inadequate," she said.

The budget committee also briefly discussed this week the proposed sale of part of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, Donnelly said. She said the committee approved a bill to use the money from the sale — estimated at about $450 million — for scholarships, capital building projects and repaying public debt.

Representative Ed Robb, R-Columbia, who is the vice chairman of the budget committee, said the committee did not significantly alter the Education Appropriation Committee's recommendations.

Robb said the only change to the higher education recommendation was a $25,000 increase to the Moberly Area Community College.