Mo. Senate passes budget bill

By Andrew Denney
April 18, 2008

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The Missouri Senate unanimously approved its version of the state budget for higher education on Wednesday.

The UM system would receive more than $450 million from next year’s proposed $1.2 billion state budget.

No amendments were proposed for the legislation, which passed with no dissenting votes and two absences. The spending bill would need approval from a joint committee of House and for Senate members to discuss changes made by the Senate before the measure is fully approved.

Senate spokeswoman Steph Reed said the bill constituted at 6.2 percent increase in higher education allocations from last year.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, said next year’s budget plan is the second step in a three-year plan to bring higher education funding to the level it had received in 2001, which was an all-time high.

“After six or seven decreases under previous administrations and legislatures, I’m pleased we have restored the trend of increasing funding,” Nodler said.

Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, said he is glad higher education would receive more funding from the proposed budget, but said funding levels still fall short of where they were in 2001.

Graham said issues of state funding might have contributed to MU’s reduced ranking this year in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual survey of American colleges and universities.

Sen. Joan Bray, D-St. Louis, said she was comfortable with the Senate version of the bill, but said despite the fact that funding for higher education has increased, the state is still not funding it as much as it should. She also said she is disappointed the Preparing to Care initiative was not included in the approved measure.

The initiative, a program Blunt recommended receive state funding, was left out of the House version of the bill after proposed amendments to secure funding for it were voted down. The initiative would have given $13.4 million to Missouri colleges and universities to increase the number of health care professionals in the state.

Also in the Senate version of bill, the Access Missouri financial assistance program was allocated $76.5 million. Blunt originally recommended $100 million for the program, the amount approved by the House.

Graham said money from the need-based scholarship fund could be awarded to students at private colleges and universities in Missouri.

“We need to support our public colleges and universities as a priority.” Graham said.

Bray said she approved the reduction in funding for the program because it awarded money to students from families that make more than $200,000 a year.

Nodler said though the allocations for some of the programs were less than Blunt’s recommendations, the programs still received more funding than in last year’s budget.

“The lowest figure is a huge increase,” Nodler said.

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Mo. Senate passes budget bill

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