Parson seeks more pay for teachers, state workers in proposed budget

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Gov. Mike Parson wants the legislature to continue providing grants to increase teacher salaries.

The Republican governor laid out priorities for the legislative session during his final State of the State Address at the Missouri Capitol on Wednesday.

Democrats praised some of Parson's policy priorities but were critical of others, including the state's ban on abortion.

The legislature the past two years has approved grants to increase minimum Missouri teacher salaries to $40,000. Grants the past two years increased the minimum to $38,000.

The grants are another temporary plan that allows Missouri’s statutory minimum teacher pay to stay at $25,000 per year.

Parson is also asking for a 3% increase to core funding for higher education and full funding of the state’s funding formula for K-12 schools. The governor is also suggesting a boost in childcare subsidy rates in the fiscal 2024 budget.

The budget also calls for a 3.2% cost of living pay raise for state employees and an additional 1% raise for every two years they've worked, capped at 10%.

"We’ve approved three historic pay increases to recruit and retain quality talent across state government - raising team member pay by over 20% since 2018," Parson said. "That’s why this year we are proposing an additional 3.2% cost of living increase for all state employees."

Parson also hopes to address the fentanyl crisis by creating a law that would create stricter punishments for exposing children and minors.

The governor touted a federal grant of nearly $93 million for the Interstate 70 expansion project. Work on the project -- which will expand Interstate 70 to three lanes through Columbia -- is expected to start this summer.

Last year, Parson allocated $35 million to update Missouri railway crossing to safety standards across the state and requested $500,000 to assist Jobs for America’s Graduates.

He also stated he wanted to invest $50 million into school safety programs. Parson did fund $32 million to "continue to states part and benefit more Missouri teachers," he said during last year's address.

Broadband also made an appearance in Parson's speech, with the governor saying the state hopes to "close the digital broadband divide" among different parts of Missouri within five years.

The 2024 address will be Parson's last as governor after taking over for former Gov. Eric Greitens in the middle of Greiten's term. He then won election to his own four-year term.

"After serving six sessions in the House, six sessions in the Senate, two sessions as Lt. Governor, and now my sixth and final session as your 57th Governor, I am expected to say this is a bittersweet moment... it's no comparison to the view behind the windshield of my tractor," Parson said.

Democrats respond

Democratic leader Crystal Quade, the House minority leader from Springfield, praised the governor's focus on child care, education and other issues Democrats hold dear.

Quade also criticized Republicans' efforts to reform Missouri's initiative petition process. And she pushed back on Missouri's abortion ban, which Parson touted in his speech.

"Where this speech fell flat was obviously women's access to reproductive health care," Quade said during a post-speech news conference.

Check back for updates to this developing story.