Missouri House is primed to pass the state budget this week

The Missouri House is primed to pass the state budget this week. 

The House Budget Committee’s version of the budget proposal is about 48-billion dollars – roughly five-billion lower than Governor Kehoe’s budget request.

Highlights include a reduction in the governor’s pay raise proposals for state workers.

The committee backed Kehoe’s recommendation to underfund state aid to K-12 public schools by $300-million.

The governor wants the state to spend an extra $107-million in federal funds on child care. 

The ranking Democrat on the committee, Springfield Representative Betsy Fogle, says she’s disappointed the committee tossed out this request.

“If this was one small step that we could take to support working families back home, I would like to see us do it. And to me, that’s the most striking difference between the governor’s version of the budget and what we’re going to pass out of the House,” says Fogle.

After the House votes, the proposal heads to the Senate for more number crunching.