Lawmakers want to restore $1.4 million for Missouri Task Force One after governor’s veto
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Two Missouri Task Force One members left Columbia this week to help with the catastrophic flooding in Vermont.
But just a couple of weeks earlier, the team lost $1.4 million in funding that lawmakers had put into the state budget.
Task Force One members can be deployed to different states at any time. Extensive training and specialized equipment are needed for the task force to perform its urban search and rescue mission.
Last year, the Missouri legislature gave Missouri Task Force One over a million dollars to help with buying equipment and paying members to go to onsite training. A $550,000 appropriation for training stayed in the 2024 fiscal year budget signed this month by Gov. Mike Parson.
But Parson vetoed another $1.4 million.
Parson said his vetos were because the General Assembly's budget was $1.7 billion larger than his recommendations. When asked for further comment on his Task Force One veto, his office referred ABC 17 back to the veto note.
"When the task force members come here to train, they are doing that on their own, they're volunteers. If we do a large-scale exercise and we travel for several days, then that's where we are able to pay our member for that training. And so that's part of the state funding as well," said Gale Blomenkamp, spokesperson for Missouri Task Force One.
Rep. Cheri Toalson Reisch (R-Hallsville) said she is making it a priority to restore that $1.4 million for Task Force One during this year's veto session in September.
"The money is there, revenues are good with the state and I think it's something we need, not just for the citizens of Missouri, but all those help around the country," Toalson Reisch said.
Veto overrides are more challenging than passing bills. An override requires a two-thirds vote in each chamber to kill the governor's veto.
Democratic lawmakers from Boone County are largely on board with restoring the task force funding, except Rep. Kathy Steinhoff who said she needs more time to look into it.
"That's frustrating after we approved it through the General Assembly and we have billions sitting," said Rep. Adrian Plank (D-Columbia).
A law was recently signed that prohibits employer discrimination against members of Task Force One while they're deployed. The bill was sponsored by Toalson Reisch, who said it got support from both sides of the aisle.
Blomenkamp said the legislation protects members from being fired or passed up for promotion because they're on Task Force One.
