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Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
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Missouri House Republicans surprise Senate by killing $500 million construction bill
House Speaker Jon Patterson of Lee's Summit speaks at a news conference Friday with House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton of Noel. (TIm Bommel/Missouri House Communications) Missouri House Republicans unexpectedly refused to allow a vote Friday on a $513 million spending bill for construction projects, citing a desire to control spending for a move that was kept secret from Democrats in the chamber and members of the state Senate. The move sank funding for major projects around the state, including national guard facilities, Boys and Girls clubs, and community health centers, to name a few. And it could seriously damage relations within the House and between chambers. Up to the moment the House adjourned without passing the bill, this year's process for deciding the budget had resembled years in the past where even major disagreements over spending priorities was resolved in time to meet the Constitution's deadline for passing appropriation bills. House and Senate conference committees hammered out the details of the $49.8 billion budget for day-to-day operations over two days of meetings this week. Last year, no public negotiations at all occurred because factional Republican warfare in the Senate delayed spending bills in that chamber. The major new spending items in the operating bills going to Kehoe's desk include: A $300 million increase for the foundation formula, the state's basic aid program for public schools. $107 million to revamp the child care payment system so providers receive their money at the beginning of each month for the children enrolled in their center. $50 million to expand the number of children served by the MOScholars program, which helps parents pay tuition at private and parochial schools. A state employee pay raise plan based on longevity, with raises up to 10%, plus pay increases for Department of Corrections officers who work in high-security and administrative segregation areas. Only once, since the early deadline for spending bills was enacted in 1988, have lawmakers failed to pass any of the operating budget bills. Failure to enact those bills means they must meet in special session before the fiscal year begins on July 1. There is no similar urgency for the construction bill, except for the organizations and agencies planning the projects it would fund. Gov. Mike Kehoe could call a special session to consider construction spending or let the projects wait a year to receive money. There was no advance notice that the capital projects bill would not receive a vote. The final votes on the 13 operating budget bills came, for the most part, rapid fire. Only the bill that included the $50 million for the MOScholars program received extended debate in the House and it passed by the narrowest margin, 84-55, on a roll call that required 82 votes to pass. Along with the operating budget bills, three capital appropriation bills were pending when the day began. One bill authorized $171 million for maintenance and repair needs, the second allocated $513 million to new construction and a third bill has $2.6 billion of state and federal tax money to continue projects first included two years ago. The Senate voted on the capital appropriation bills first as it waited for word that the House had passed several of the operating bills. The Senate voted on each bill as it arrived from the House, sending the entire set to Kehoe's desk. The Senate was already adjourned for the day when the House finally debated the maintenance and repair funding and the bill to continue ongoing projects late Friday afternoon, just hours before the constitutional deadline. Only when the House itself adjourned without taking up the construction bill was it clear that the bill would die. The Constitution forbids lawmakers to consider spending bills in the final week of their regular session. House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton, a Noel Republican, said at a news conference that he made the decision after consultation with House Speaker Jon Patterson of Lee's Summit and Majority Leader Alex Riley of Springfield. He said he did not inform Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, a Springfield Republican, of his decision. House Democrats said they were not told, either. It was a purely financial decision, Deaton said. The House-passed budget, he said, projected the state would use about $600 million of what the governor's budget plan projected will be a $2.5 billion unencumbered general revenue surplus at the end of the current year. Kehoe's budget used about $1.1 billion of the surplus, but when the operating budget negotiations ended, the projection showed that about $1.6 billion would be spent. During negotiations on the nearly 600 budget lines with differences between the House and Senate, Hough held the Senate position on more than 350, while the House version was chosen about 185 times. For several dozen, a compromise amount between the chambers was included. On the majority of lines where differences occurred, the conference committee chose the higher spending amount. 'We had many things in there that we thought were good and worthy of doing and would have liked to have seen done,' Deaton said. 'But considering what we spent in the operating (budget), I just felt like we couldn't move forward at this time.' The decision to shelve the construction bill was not because the House perceived it had lost in budget negotiations, Patterson said. 'We don't think about Senate positions and House positions,' he said. 'We think about positions from Missouri, I think probably had more to do with we sent them the bill on the 17th and then we received the bill back with about six hours left.' Lawmakers have one more week before the session ends. There are major bills awaiting final action, including GOP priorities to roll back the abortion rights and the sick leave law approved by voters in November. Patterson said he didn't see any reason why refusing to vote on the construction bill would change whether those other bills pass. 'I have nothing but great things to say about how the Senate has been working this year,' he said. 'I think they'll continue to work like that.' After passing the operating budget, the House recessed and Republicans met in caucus. That is when the decision was made, Deaton said. 'They had great concerns that I would try to be fair to them and not ask them to have to vote on something that they hadn't had an opportunity to review and have input on,' Deaton said. The action hurts communities across the state that were anticipating projects that ranged from hospitals and new National Guard facilities to major research buildings, said state Rep. Betsy Fogle of Springfield, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee. 'My members and I worked very hard to fund vital services to Missourians in House Bill 19,' Fogle said. 'I would like to deliver the promise and the effort that we made. And I know a lot of the majority party feels the same way. Looking through this list, there were members that worked very hard to bring dollars back home to our communities.' Hough confirmed in an interview with The Independent Friday eventing that he was not informed by Deaton that the bill would not receive a vote. 'Am I frustrated with them taking no action and essentially then killing the (capital improvements) bill? Absolutely.' Hough said. 'That's frustrating for everyone.' The Independent tracks earmarks — special items added to the budget proposed by Kehoe — and of just over 300 in the budget, 60 were in the capital bill that did not pass. Of those 60, 42 were in the bill when the House approved it. 'Disproportionately, they hurt their own members,' Hough said. 'The majority of the things in that bill were added for House members, so that just doesn't make any sense.' As proposed by Kehoe, the construction bill used about $139 million of general revenue and about $186 million of federal funds and other money. The projects included $50 million to support a new research reactor at the University of Missouri, $55 million for projects on the State Fairgrounds in Sedalia and $52 million for National Guard facilities. In the House-passed version, the general revenue was bumped to $216 million and new projects included $20 million for a parking garage adjacent to a convention center in Jefferson City, $11 million for a redevelopment project in Cape Girardeau and $6.8 million for a hospital in Salem. The smallest project added in the House was $60,000 for a county maintenance building in Dallas County. The Senate accepted all of those projects and added 18 more of its own, with items like $10 million for a community health center in Barry County, $8 million for Boys & Girls Clubs statewide and $1 million for improvements at an airport in Washington County. Because of the tight timeline for passing budget bills and House rules that make conference meetings impossible when the deadline is near, Hough had anticipated that by keeping everything in the bill when he received it, the House would accept it. He said at the Wednesday committee meeting that approved it that he had assurances from Deaton that was the case. 'The trust has been eroded with the lack of communication from the House,' Hough said. Deaton said he had not given Hough any assurance that the package would be acceptable. 'There was never any agreement, and certainly not one that we would just take anything if our insertions were not taken out,' Deaton said. House Democrats, who had praised Deaton for running a more bipartisan budget process where they received a share of the earmarked items, said the goodwill of that work has been damaged. 'What Rep. Fogle was mentioning,' said House Minority Leader Ashley Aune of Kansas City, 'about having not been clued in that this was on the table for the majority party, is a huge breach of trust between the caucuses.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
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Missouri budget negotiators agree to spend $50 million on private school scholarship program
Missouri Senate Appropriations Chairman Lincoln Hough, right, discusses a budget item Thursday with House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton during negotiations over spending differences in the fiscal 2026 budget (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent). After a sharp, brief fight in which Democrats were outnumbered by majority Republicans, Missouri legislative budget negotiators agreed Thursday to spend $50 million to expand the MOScholars program that helps pay tuition at private and parochial schools. The general revenue support would be the first time state tax dollars have been appropriated directly to the program begun in 2021. The line item, a major part of Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe's budget proposal, found favor in the Missouri House but was rejected by the state Senate when it passed spending bills last week. The item was one of the last to be reached as budget negotiators worked through 13 spending bills paying for state operations in the coming year. All 13 bills, as well as three capital improvements bills awaiting a vote in the state Senate, must be passed by the 6 p.m. Friday constitutional deadline. Official figures were not yet available, but tracking by The Independent shows lawmakers intend to spend $53.5 billion in the coming fiscal year. Lawmakers negotiating Missouri budget add $300M to public schools spending State Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat, said she objects to providing tax money for the tuition program because the state doesn't prevent parents from using the scholarships to send their children to schools that are selective for academic achievement or religious beliefs. 'This is fiscally irresponsible, and quite frankly I think it's shameful to put $50 million into funds that can directly discriminate against the students they are supposed to be serving,' she said. The program provides stipends equal to the State Adequacy Target, the figure that drives how much money is needed for the school foundation formula, the basic aid program for public schools. Families with incomes 300% of the federal poverty guideline or less — $173,000 a year for a family of four — can apply for the aid. Republicans argue the direct appropriation is legal and needed to expand access to the program, which was set up to be funded by donations secured by tax credits for donors. 'This was one that was very important to the House and we passed it out very strongly,' said House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel. The budget negotiating committees are 10 members, five from each chamber made up of three Republicans and two Democrats. State Rep. Marlene Terry, a St. Louis Democrat, appointed to the negotiation committee over objections of other Democrats because of her support for school choice bills, backed Republicans on the MoScholars funding. 'I believe in education and a good education for all children, whether it be private schools, charter schools, public schools,' Terry said. 'We want our children to get the best education that they can, and we want to give them the help to get it.' All of the differences, large and small, were reconciled over two days of public budget negotiations. Several big decisions were made Wednesday, including agreement to increase school funding through the foundation formula by $300 million, spend $107 million more on child care supports and to use Kehoe's pay raise plan that rewards longevity in state employment. The budget overall calls for spending about $210 million less than Kehoe recommended, approximately $1.9 billion more than the House version and $237 million more than the Senate voted for when it passed the budget last week. The legislative budget calls for spending $16.2 billion of general revenue, money mainly from income and sales taxes. That is $200 million more than Kehoe proposed, $1 billion more than the House spending plan and about $391 million less general revenue than in the Senate budget. The final budget finds savings over the Senate plan in large part by tapping a pool of almost $500 million in banked federal funds to underwrite the Medicaid program. The Thursday meeting focused on funding for health, social services and state official and judicial budgets. Some of the decisions finalized Thursday would: Set aside almost $93 million to pay off a judgment against the state for damages claimed by a vendor who worked on the state's computerized Medicaid enrollment system. A $23 million judgment grew to more than $50 million as the state appealed and interest accrued. The appropriation includes both state and federal funds to allow flexibility in the way the judgment is paid. Allow more than 300 near earmarked projects — items sought by lawmakers for their district or lobbyists seeking money for clients — with a general revenue cost of $600 million and an overall cost of $750 million. Cut 25 open employee slots from Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' budget and one from the budget of Lt. Gov. David Wasinger. The cuts were initiated in the Senate, where Hoskins served eight years and sought repeatedly to cut unfilled jobs, while Wasinger won his job after defeating Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough in a primary last year. Hoskins had supporters on the negotiating committee but not enough to change the decision. State Sen. Barbara Washington, a Democrat from Kansas City, asked for five of the positions to be restored. And state Rep. Darin Chappell, a Republican from Rogersville, also backed Hoskins. 'I don't mean to belabor what appears to be a dead horse, but I would like to ask us to consider that the new secretary of state may need some time to be able to level out what he actually does need, and maybe a little bit of grace might be appropriate,' Chappell said. Despite the plea, Deaton made the cut stick. 'This wasn't a House position, but our Senate colleagues are pretty impassioned here,' Deaton said. After the meeting concluded, Hough said he is not concerned that the budget spends more general revenue than either Kehoe or the House included. The budget grows through the process, he said, as lawmakers seek help for community projects. 'A lot of members from the House and a lot of a lot of interested parties all over the state come banging on the Senate,' Hough said. 'They say, 'why would you leave $2 billion in the bank when we have investments that we'd like to see in our communities?'' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Missouri House committee approves $4 billion for state construction projects
House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel, speaks during a Jan. 30 news conference with House Speaker Jon Patterson. (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications) The Missouri House Budget Committee approved more than $4 billion in construction funding Thursday, including 45 new earmarked items for projects that include a county government maintenance shed and a capital city parking garage. About half of the spending is reauthorization of projects approved in past years and funded mainly from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act. As of March 31, the state had $1.3 billion remaining to be spent from the $2.9 billion originally received from the federal COVID-19 relief law. Overall, the new items increased general revenue spending for construction projects by $76 million more in general revenue than requested by Gov. Mike Kehoe. Adding the three construction bills to the operating budget approved in the House last week brings total spending proposed in the lower chamber to $52 billion, about $1.7 billion less than Kehoe proposed in January. The construction budget will be debated in the full House on Tuesday. Deaton said he was comfortable with adding general revenue items despite a tax cut bill awaiting a final vote and ongoing uncertainty about federal budget cuts. Current general revenue receipts are declining and a general revenue surplus built up to $5.7 billion two years ago is expected to be $2.5 billion at the end of June. This may be the last year that lawmakers are able to tap the surplus for earmarked projects, committee Chairman Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel, said to reporters after the meeting. 'We're still in a good position, but certainly those opportunities are diminishing,' he said. 'And if it's not next year, it'll be the year after that.' Deaton's willingness to add dozens of small items for members is in contrast to his predecessor, former state Rep. Cody Smith. In past years, most earmarks were inserted during Senate consideration of the budget. The change drew praise from the committee's ranking Democrat, state Rep. Betsy Fogle of Springfield. 'This has been the most collaborative and productive budget year that I've been a part of,' Fogle said. The smallest item added to the construction list is $60,000 for a maintenance and equipment shed for Dallas County government. The largest is $20 million for a new Jefferson City parking garage that is part of a $130 million hotel and conference center. To find money for the parking garage Deaton cut funding requested by Kehoe for renovations of the remaining structures of the Missouri State Penitentiary to support its use as a tourist attraction. The original request of $52 million was pared down to $15 million, Deaton said, because members of the committee are willing to spend money to preserve the buildings but balk at major renovations or improvements on the property. 'If we were just to say, let's just tear all these buildings down, it would be more than $15 million, so just to try to help them keep what they have and stabilize that seemed appropriate to me,' Deaton said to reporters after the meeting. The parking garage would replace a crumbling structure near the Governor's mansion and help relieve some of the problems finding parking in downtown Jefferson City, Deaton said. And adding it in the House makes friends in the Senate, he added. 'We've had talks with our colleagues on the other side of the building, and there's some members over there I know that are very passionate about it,' Deaton said. Of the other earmarked items added Thursday, there are 15 health-related projects that include hospital and mental health facilities and seven infrastructure projects for roads, bridges and water. There's grants for library renovations in Newton and Barry counties and tourism projects to fund construction at the General Omar Bradley Memorial in Moberly, the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City and the Pony Express Museum in St. Joseph. Deaton didn't greenlight every request, said Republican state Rep. Wendy Hausman of St. Peters. 'We had to prove that it's beneficial throughout the state,' Hausman said. The items that are funded are only a fraction of what he was asked to include, Deaton said. 'No matter what the resources we bring to bear, there's always more need than there is opportunities to meet those needs,' he said. Democrats were treated fairly and saw some of their items funded, Fogle said. 'The chair has continued to show a willingness to work with minority members and get some of our investments in the budget,' she said. 'And today was a good day.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
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Missouri House finishes work on $48 billion state budget plan
House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel, speaks Thursday at a news conference on the Missouri state budget. Deaton was joined, from left, by state Reps. Bishop Davidson of Republic, Wendy Hausman of St. Peters and John Voss of Cape Girardeau (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent). The Missouri House sent the state Senate a budget of almost $48 billion to fund state agency operations in the coming fiscal year, a spending plan almost certain to grow as the upper chamber adds more money for public schools and child care. The 13 spending bills use about $2.1 billion less overall and $800 million less in general revenue than recommended by Gov. Mike Kehoe when he presented his budget plan in January. More than half of the general revenue savings are cuts to Medicaid spending based on newer estimates of enrollment in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Some of the other reductions are due to paring back state employee pay raises, cutting spending lines where no money is actually available and shifting incomplete projects to a reappropriation bill that is not included on the bottom line. The budget plan didn't just cut money from Kehoe's proposal. There were several small additions for state agencies, like $28 million for deferred maintenance on college campuses; extra pay raises for Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers and commercial vehicle inspectors at a cost of $8.4 million; and 20 new holistic defense social workers in the Office of Public Defender at a cost of $1.2 million. There are also 105 earmarked items with a total cost of $170 million, including $142.7 million in general revenue. The projects range in size from $25,000 for a road project in St. Joseph to $19 million for a new state park in the district of House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel. 'We're proud to have found savings and efficiencies across state government,' Deaton said at a news conference after the House action. 'We also continue to have a really historic surplus, although it is being drawn down, but still leaving $2 billion on the bottom line.' State Rep. Del Taylor, a St. Louis Democrat, said talking about how much was cut doesn't impress him. 'We don't measure ourselves in dollars saved and oh, 'I cut $100 million out of this budget and that budget,'' he said. 'What we really need to be measuring ourselves on is, are we addressing the needs of our people with funding for those non-profit organizations that our state has partnered with.' The state had a balance of $3.8 billion in the general revenue fund as of Monday, down from historic high of about $5.7 billion set in 2023. The budget on its way to the Senate spends $14.4 billion in general revenue, which would require about $900 million from the accumulated surplus if revenue meets expectations. Democrats found a lot to like in the budget, even if they were not pleased with the outcome on school funding and child care subsidies. 'House Democrats were able to make a number of changes to the budget for the betterment of their communities and the state, and it was a refreshing change from what we've endured in recent years,' said House Minority Leader Ashley Aune of Kansas City. Most of the 13 bills passed with fewer than 10 votes against them. The largest number of opposition votes came on the bills funding the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and elected officials, where $50 million for private school tuition scholarship program called MOScholars is appropriated. There is new anti-diversity, equity and inclusion language in the bill funding the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development as well as long-standing language denying in-state tuition to undocumented immigrant students who live in the state. However, despite raising objections on the floor, many Democrats supported the bill as it passed 117-17. State Rep. Betsy Fogle of Springfield, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said Democrats had a tough choice on whether to support the higher education spending bill. The votes in favor of it were not traded for earmarks, she said. 'There's no price act, no amount of money that would make the House Democrats sacrifice our values, our morals and our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion in the state,' she said. 'My calculation was, and always will be, how do I bring home the most investments to the most Missourians without sacrificing the values of the House Democratic Caucus?' There is almost $500 million tied up in budget lines that are sure to get a lot of attention during Senate deliberations. The largest is $300 million for the school foundation formula. Under the calculation establishing how much should be spent on public schools, the basic rate for state aid, called the state adequacy target, is $7,145 per pupil. The House budget plan only funds an adequacy target of $6,760 per student. Kehoe did not include the increase in his budget and neither did the House. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough of Springfield has said he will find the money. One item Democrats wanted to eliminate is the $50 million appropriation for the MOScholars program. The program, expanded last year, has not attracted the donations expected and is the first time the state is making grants of tax dollars to pay tuition at private and parochial schools. Hough has also said he intends to restore a cut to Kehoe's budget for child care subsidies. Kehoe asked lawmakers to use $107 million of new federal funding for child care to revise how providers are paid. Instead of being paid based on attendance at the end of a month, providers would get their money at the beginning of the month based on the number of children enrolled. The child care money isn't in the budget, Deaton said, because it could become a cost to the general revenue fund. 'I really never even got to the point of, is this good public policy? Is this bad? Is this a better idea? Is this a better way to do it, or not?' Deaton said 'We really never even got past the fiscal concerns of can we make this work year in and year out?' The problems with the current program, plagued by late or missed payments since the launch of a new computer processing system, make the changes proposed by Kehoe essential, Fogle said. 'We sat in that budget hearing room for countless hours,' Fogle said, 'listening to people cry and scream and express their frustration about our inability to do our job as a General Assembly and the department to get those dollars out the door.' 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Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Few changes made in $48B state budget during Missouri House debate
House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel, speaks during a Jan. 30 news conference with House Speaker Jon Patterson. (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications) Democrats failed on Tuesday to win major changes in the $47.9 billion state budget plan during Missouri House debate, suffering defeat on proposals to shift money to the school funding formula and increase payments to child care providers. Few Republicans broke ranks with party leadership on those or any other proposal put forth by Democrats, leading one lawmaker to wonder out loud why the chamber was bothering with debates. 'Why take us through this dog and pony show?' said state Rep. Marlene Terry, a Democrat from Bellefontaine Neighbors. CONTACT US Democrats did win a few minor changes to the budget, but the biggest difference between the plan approved in the House Budget Committee last month and the bills given first round approval Monday were made by Republican amendments. In the Medicaid program, for example, the House cut about $50 million in general revenue matches to federal funds, arguing the funds were not needed because enrollment is not meeting earlier expectations. A final series of votes on the 13 spending bills funding state operations will be held Thursday to send the budget to the state Senate. Three more bills, allocating money to capital improvements, are awaiting action in the House Budget Committee. While the House worked on the budget, the state Senate debated a bill exempting long-term capital gains from state income tax. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, a Republican from Springfield, said during debate that federal budget cuts could force Missouri to spend more state tax dollars on Medicaid. Hough questioned whether a tax cut of about $335 million in the coming fiscal year was prudent. If the federal match rate for low-income adults added to the rolls since 2021 is changed from 90% to 80%, Hough said, it would require $300 million in additional general revenue. 'That is a fairly scary financial forecast,' Hough said. Hough has said he intends to use cash balances to fully fund the foundation formula and that he will support the increase for child care providers. The possibility of cuts in national spending — federal funds provide about 45% of Missouri's budget — was also raised in the House. 'Our entire budget will be blown to bits if we lose federal funding,' said state Rep. Stephanie Hein, a Democrat from Springfield. The state had a substantial balance of $3.8 billion in the general revenue fund as of Monday, down from historic high of about $5.7 billion set in 2023. The budget for the coming year anticipates leaving about $1.9 billion unspent. Missouri received $13.4 billion in general revenue in the year that ended June 30 and the budget anticipates $13.5 billion for the coming fiscal year. The budget plan debated by the House cuts almost $800 million in general revenue and $2.1 billion overall less than the operating budget proposed by Gov. Mike Kehoe in January. The spending proposal achieves those savings in part by cutting appropriations that had no funding available, by reducing Medicaid to match expected enrollment and by slicing Kehoe's plan for state employee pay raises in half. Instead of a raise of 1% for every two years in a state job, capped at 10%, the House pay plan is to provide a raise of 1% for every two years in a state job but capped at 5%. Additions to the budget proposed by Kehoe include 105 earmarked items, including nine added Monday, with a total cost of $170 million. The House also added $28 million that will be distributed to state colleges and universities for deferred building maintenance. The two biggest clashes of the day bookended the five-hour debate. Only one Republican joined Democrats on a failed amendment to shift $50 million in general revenue from a tax credit program supporting private school tuition scholarships to the foundation formula. Democrats argued that the budget shortchanges public schools by failing to meet the new state adequacy target, which is a measure of how much high-performing districts spend per student. The House plan allows for a state adequacy target of $6,760 per student instead of the $7,145 that resulted from the calculation mandated by state law. To boost foundation formula funding, state Rep. Betsy Fogle, a Springfield Democrat, tried to strip out $50 million for the MOScholars program, which was supposed to be funded by donations tied to tax credits. Too many of the private schools participating in the scholarship program won't accept students with developmental disabilities or who won't participate in religious instruction, Fogle said. 'I can't think of anything more frustrating to me, personally, than my tax dollars going to a school that wouldn't have educated me, that wouldn't have educated a lot of people in this body,' she said. Defending the set-aside for the scholarship program, Republicans said the influx of state cash will help hundreds more students. 'This is a historic investment in our children's future, fostering flexibility around parental involvement and educational freedom for our kids,' said state Rep. Ben Baker, a Republican from Neosho. While the budget plan accepted Kehoe's proposal for scholarships, it did not include his $107 million plan for child care subsidies. The system for delivering payments has been plagued by mistakes and delays and some providers have closed as a result. Hein sought to restore about $85 million of the cut. 'We have the opportunity to fix the situation and bring the state into compliance with federal rules,' Hein said. 'We can stabilize the child care industry and help our workforce.' Republicans, however, said the expense will have to be paid from general revenue in the future and it is too costly. The problems with the payment system are solved, said House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel, and a change now could cause problems to resurface. 'Changing how you pay providers from attendance to enrollment is not just flipping a switch over at the Department of Elementary Secondary Education,' he said. 'There are substantial software changes that have to be made.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
