‘A gut punch for sure'; Impacts from failed HB 19 felt on local level

Yahoo

03-06-2025

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — 'We were expecting that $1.5 million to be approved a couple of weeks ago, and then we learned that it wasn't and it was a gut punch for sure,' Brandy Harris, the CEO of The Boys and Girls Club of Springfield, said.
For Harris, to say she's frustrated with state lawmakers would be an understatement.
That's because just a portion of their next project, the Risdal Family Teen Center, around 1.5 million of the $12 million needed to fund it, was part of House Bill 19.
House Bill 19 was also going to give millions for other projects in the state, but didn't even make it to Governor Kehoe's desk after Republican lawmakers refused to vote on it.
'A lot of our kids already feel like they're not worth this building or they don't deserve the things that we're providing them. They've actually said that to me and focus groups, and now the state has essentially sent a message that like, actually you're not,' Harris said. 'Intentional or not, that's the message that's being received, and that's incredibly frustrating because they are.'
Harris calls the teen center, located at 804 West Catalpa, a one-stop shop for teens.
'One of the really good things that Missouri has done over the last several years is put a heavy emphasis on early childhood education, and what that's unintentionally done is neglected middle school and high school students. A lot of people think like if you're in middle school or high school, you can just like walk home, go home, hang out with friends, and more, but that's what we're realizing, especially post-COVID, is that kids are engaging in really risky behaviors and they deserve a space to go that safe where they can learn, grow, and that's what this building does,' Harris said. 'It's 32,000 square feet. It is walkable from Parkview High School and Jarrett Middle School. The location is really important to us. It's in a neighborhood that really could use our services, and we have the neighborhood support, which has been incredible. So this building is incredibly important not only to that neighborhood and to local middle school and high schools, but also to the mission of Boys and Girls Clubs of Springfield. It's going to be like this one stop shop for teens. So like if you need to get a haircut, there's a barber shop inside. If you need mental health services, we have a partner that's going to be providing them a health clinic, an e-sports lounge, a gym, a games room, a cafeteria and a teaching kitchen where we're teaching life skills.'
She's hopeful that a special session starting this week could shed more light on the issue and bring it back to lawmakers.
'I think what this decision has done has made a lot of us question Jefferson City in general, what their priorities and commitments are,' Harris said. 'Our legislators have a really unique opportunity today there's a special session, and this HB 19 is going to be talked about, and I like to have generous assumptions because that's the kind of leader I want to be. So I just want to assume that maybe some of the people who did not talk about HB 19 were either misinformed or just didn't understand the impact it would have on their own districts and their own communities.'
Courtney Simpkins works with teens directly, and hopes people are help to help with donations for the funding.
'I think it's really vital because it helps teens get off the streets. So it is a safe place that they can come every single day for them after school in the summertime at night, time to come and do a lot of different activities, have that supervision, have those role models in their lives to help guide them. We have lots of opportunities and programs for them to be able to further their education,' Simpkins said. 'The teens … they've shown a lot of excitement. In the past, we've heard, well, I don't want to come to the club because it's with little kids, but now that they have their own space, they're super excited to be able to have their own areas that they can hang out.'
Including Neveah H., who says she can't wait for the center to open.
'It's really big, and I've seen that there's going to be cooking and stuff, so I'm excited about that too,' Neveah said. 'I think it's going to be really cool because there is going to be people my age.'
'One thing that I'm very confident about is that we will reach our $12 million goal. There's no other option, and I'm confident in this community. I'm not as confident in Jefferson City right now, but the building will be done on August 19,' Harris stressed.
Harris says she's had bipartisan support for the funding from Springfield state house and senate reps, including Rep. Melanie Stinnett, Rep. Betsy Fogle, and State Senator Lincoln Hough.
Ozarks First reached out to lawmakers on both sides of the issue, but only Rep. Fogle responded to the request for comment.
'House Bill 19 was the capital investment bill that had been worked on in both the House and the Senate, totaling about $513 million worth of capital investments across the state. On the day that we served and passed the budget out of the House, House Bill 19 was omitted from debate. It was not up to a vote from the Republican leadership in the House. The budget chair did not communicate that with me, did not communicate that with Senator Hough as appropriations chair in the Senate. I was quite blindsided that all of our hard work that we had done and, you know, in a bipartisan way, there were a lot of projects. There were a lot of projects in House Bill 19 that Democrats had put in. There were a lot of projects that Republicans had put in and for it not to be brought up for a vote is something that I have never seen in my time in the General Assembly,' Fogle said. 'I think it is the only other ever happened, and one other time in our state's history.'
She says the Boys and Girls Club of Springfield wasn't the only group in the Ozarks with funding in that bill.
'What that means for us here in Springfield, of course, there were projects in House Bill 19 that would impact our institutions of higher education, impact our nonprofits, and notably $1.5 billion going to our Boys and Girls Club, $2.4 million intended to go to Mission University on the north side on Kearney Street, money for Discovery Center, a lot of projects not only here locally, but across the state that had been well vetted and compromised on, and it was very frustrating for me and for a lot of people that the budget chair in House leadership decided to completely gut and kill those investments,' Fogle said.
Fogle says the path is narrow, but the hope is that lawmakers can introduce House Bill 19 during the special session this week.
'I think that that path is narrow, but I can tell you myself in my position, I'll do everything I can to make sure that the promises we made, we hold true. I think if you had the opportunity to speak with Appropriations Chair Hough in the Senate, I think he would echo those sentiments. I know no one is more frustrated that House Bill 19 died other than myself,' Fogle said.
Harris says she's not too confident in the entire Missouri legislature.
'If for some reason the answer is no, I will be incredibly frustrated. I will question a lot of things. I will be very sad, but then the next day I'll get up and figure out how we need to raise $1.5 million because the building is still happening. It needs to and we're just going to have to press on,' said Harris.
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