Missouri legislature passes $51 billion state budget Friday afternoon

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A $51 billion fiscal year 2025 state budget was sent to the governor just hours before the deadline.

Missouri House lawmakers began discussing and debating the state budget Friday with just hours to get it on the governor's desk. Senators passed the budget after an eight-hour debate Thursday. From 10 a.m., when the Missouri House of Representatives gaveled in for the day, representatives had eight hours to complete the budget. The budget was due at 6 p.m. Friday.

Lawmakers in both chambers have complained that the current version of the budget was not presented to them until it was on the floor Thursday. Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday morning that he had not seen what was in it.

The two chambers decided to forgo a conference committee on the budget this year, so both chambers have to pass identical versions of the budget for it to be sent to the governor's desk without hashing out a compromise version.

One budget bill includes a 3.2% pay raise for state workers, as proposed by the governor in his State of the State address. Part of the proposed budget funds the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which includes money for grants to raise the base teacher salary to $40,000.

"Now that we are codifying in state law that the minimum teacher pay is higher, then I do believe that we have an appropriation that would support that," Rep. Cody Smith (R-Carthage) said.

But Columbia Democratic Rep. and former teacher Kathy Steinhoff doesn't think the state is properly supporting educators in this budget.

"I'm concerned that the appropriation for the baseline grant  is not enough because i think we're going to see more and more districts wanting to use that this year to scaffold them into that $40,000," Steinhoff said.

Small rural school districts have expressed concern about meeting this $40,000 requirement if the grant is not continued for years to come.