Latest news with #RustyBlack
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Missouri school funding task force turns its attention to property tax inequities
State Sen. Rusty Black, a Republican from Chillicothe, chairs the first meeting of the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force earlier this month (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). A group tasked by the governor with reworking Missouri's formula for funding public schools narrowed in on property tax revenue Monday, discussing how the 20-year-old formula creates inequities with an outdated assumption of local aid. In the second meeting of the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force, education officials led a conversation on property taxes. The problem stems from a figure frozen in time, said Kari Monsees, deputy commissioner of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The formula subtracts assumed local aid based on 2005 property values and applies the same tax rate statewide even though districts vary widely on levies. 'The longer we go on, the further we get from the actual values on our assumptions and the more problematic it is for what we're trying to do here,' Monsees said. Since the creation of the current formula in 2005, property values have fluctuated with variation across districts. 'There's been a lot of changes in property values since 2005,' said David Wood, a former state representative and policy analyst for the Missouri State Tax Commission. 'If you try to jump to current numbers… it's going to be extremely expensive.' But increasing the cost to the state's general revenue is not an option. Gov. Mike Kehoe's executive order, which convened the work group, calls for funding outcomes 'at a level consistent with what is provided for in the State Fiscal Year 2025 budget.' This amount is $300 million under the current budget passed by state lawmakers and awaiting the governor's signature. Missouri governor calls for task force to keep state education funding flat Missouri is seventh in the nation for reliance on property tax revenue for funding public schools, with 47% of funds coming from local taxes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Missouri has the lowest portion of state aid in its public-school funding, at 30% of school revenues. The state's reliance on local funding combined with its outdated figures for property taxes has created a system of winners and losers, with communities with growing property values and higher levies accumulating more funds on a per-pupil basis than their counterparts. If the assessments 20 years ago were accurate and change was uniform across districts, there would be 'less of a concern,' Monsees said. 'But that's not the reality,' he said. 'The reality is those reassessment rates and value changes have been significantly different across the state.' The median home value in districts varies wildly, ranging from $44,500 to $613,300, according to a 2019 review Monsees presented. The formula assumes a local levy of $3.43 per $100 of assessed value, dubbed the 'performance levy.' But districts' levies vary from $2.75 to almost $6.50 per $100. He shared examples of districts in the 90th and 10th percentiles, showing some districts have double the operating funds on a per-pupil basis. Worsening the gaps between districts is a 'hold-harmless provision' in the foundation formula, which keeps funding levels stable for districts that would've seen a dip in revenue when the formula was established. There are 200 hold-harmless districts, with districts under 350 students keeping total state aid flat and those over 350 getting the same amount per student. Missouri has had hold-harmless provisions through multiple iterations of the school funding formula, and Monsees said there's a reason for that. The formula has to be approved by the state legislature, and lawmakers whose districts are losing funds are likely to vote against any changes. A study of the formula commissioned by education nonprofit Aligned estimates that hold-harmless provisions cost the state $150 million annually. The study recommends that any new formula institute a 'temporary hold-harmless provision with a five-year phase out.' The study is one of three being reviewed by task force members. All three recommended changes in multiple areas to the formula, such as increasing multipliers used to increase funding for special education and measuring student count by enrollment rather than attendance. The work group is anticipated to meet over the next year and deliver plans to the governor by December 2026.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Missouri governor calls for task force to keep state education funding flat
State Sen. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, chairs the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force meeting Monday afternoon (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). A group of state officials and business leaders tasked by Gov. Mike Kehoe with creating a new formula to fund Missouri's public schools gathered for the first time on Monday under an expectation that funding should be below what lawmakers approved earlier this year. Halle Herbert, the governor's incoming policy director, told the group that Kehoe seeks funding 'consistent with what is provided in the state fiscal year 2025 budget.' Last month, lawmakers signed off on public education funding that was $300 million higher than what the governor recommended. 'A lot of times when you ask a school superintendent, 'where are the problems?….' They ask for more money,' Kehoe told the group Monday. 'That is not a great answer to me… That can't always be the answer to every problem.' Between fiscal year 2025 and 2026, a multiplier in the formula called the 'state adequacy target' increased. This number is the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's estimate of proper per-pupil funding and is calculated by looking at top-performing schools in the state's annual performance reports. The change was driven by a new iteration of the state's accountability system, called the Missouri School Improvement Program, which was introduced in 2022 and became more 'rigorous' for districts to score high and produced a smaller number of districts that could be deemed top performers. The program is required by law to be phased in, making fiscal year 2026 the first year with the updated state adequacy target. This change requires an additional $300 million to fully fund the foundation formula. Kehoe's proposed budget this January did not include the $300 million increase, and his comments in Monday's meeting show an intention to tamp down the rising costs of public education. Kari Monsees, deputy commissioner of financial and administrative services, said part of Kehoe's intention with calling for a change to the formula comes from the 'unpredictability' of the state adequacy target. State Rep. Ed Lewis, a Republican from Moberly and former educator, pointed out that there was a 12% increase in the multiplier this year — but before now, it had only increased 4% in 16 years. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Superintendents have been asking for a formula that responds to inflation for years, arguing lawmakers 'manipulated' the formula to keep funding flat. A study commissioned by the department and released in 2023 concluded that the current formula hurts districts with more low-income students. Multipliers for serving sensitive student groups were 'not based on any empirical analysis,' the study determined. The study recommends looking at other states and the cost associated with desired performance outcomes to determine whether the per-pupil funding is enough. But Kehoe is seeking financial incentives for high performance. Monsees said there aren't many states with performance in school funding formulas and alluded to a lack of information on that model. The group that met Monday was created by an executive order Kehoe shortly after taking office. He appointed members representing public schools, agriculture, business and charter schools. One member is to represent 'a non-profit organization that works on expanding school choice in Missouri,' according to the order. Kehoe chose Chris Vas, a senior director with the Herzog Foundation. The foundation 'advances K-12 Christian education primarily,' Vas said Monday. There was some discussion that the formula, which was previously intended to fund public districts, should also be responsible for funding charter schools and vouchers for private education. Committee member Michael Podgursky, an economics professor at the University of Missouri–Columbia, said there 'was an active discussion of interdisciplinary school choice.' 'How do you design a funding mechanism with school choice, which really means thinking about tying it more to kids,' he said. Podgursky has served as a fellow with various conservative research groups, such as the Fordham Institute and the George W. Bush institute and is a director at the conservative think tank the Show-Me Institute. The group must come up with recommendations to deliver to the governor by Dec. 1, 2026.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Missouri Senate passes bill to fund sheriffs' retirement system
Sen. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, on the first day of the 2024 Legislative Session (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). A bill to fund pensions for Missouri sheriffs from new fees on court documents and a slice of the money the state pays counties to house prisoners passed the state Senate on a nearly unanimous vote Tuesday, potentially rescuing a retirement system that voters refused to support at the ballot in November. Last year, lawmakers appropriated $5 million of general revenue to the Missouri Sheriffs' Retirement System and placed a measure on the November ballot that would have imposed a $3 fee on court cases to keep it solvent in the future. The ballot measure was rejected by 61% of voters, leaving the 5% donation from sheriff's salaries in 114 counties and the city of St. Louis as the fund's only income. Those contributions totaled $89,502 in 2023, according to the system's annual report, while the system paid out $3.8 million in benefits to 147 retired former sheriffs, one disabled former sheriff, and 52 spouses. The administrative costs of the system were $244,454. Prior to 2021, the retirement fund was supported by the court fee but the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that year that it was unconstitutional because it represented a hurdle for citizens to access the courts. Sheriffs currently receive a $10 fee to serve papers in a civil case initiated by a private party, money that is deposited in a special fund to support increased pay for deputies. The bill would raise that fee to $15 in most counties and $20 in the largest, those of the first and second classification, with the extra money going to the retirement system. The bill would maintain the contribution at 5% of salary, and shave $1.75 off the daily amount the state pays for housing prisoners convicted of felonies and sentenced to a term in a state prison. The state currently pays $24.95 per day and whether that amount will be increased by 50 cents per day is an issue to be decided in state budget negotiations. Sheriffs in counties of the first and second classification are paid 80% of the salary of an associate circuit judge, or $130,720 for the year. In other counties, the salary is calculated as a smaller percentage of the judicial salary, based on assessed value of property, with the lowest being about $70,300 per year. There is an exception among the larger counties. Dwayne Carey, the sheriff of Boone County, is paid $174,116 annually because of an anomaly in how the pay was established and a legal inability to reduce it during his tenure in office. State Sen. Rusty Black, a Chillicothe Republican handling the House-passed bill in the Senate, said the bill will put the system on track to pay all its current and future obligations. The fund, he said, currently has about 70% of the money it needs, based on estimates of future market returns and contributions. 'With these three legs on the stool, jail reimbursement, sheriffs (contributions), and then the processing fee, hopefully we're going to raise, the estimate is, somewhere around $3.8 million,' Black said. That would make the system fully funded in about 20 years, he said. The bill needs a final vote in the House before going to Gov. Mike Kehoe for his signature. The budget that must be passed this week also includes $2 million more from state general revenue to keep the system afloat. The budget language also includes a prohibition on using pension system funds for political contributions, a reaction to the fund donating $30,000 to the unsuccessful ballot measure campaign just weeks after receiving the infusion of state cash. The bill began in the House as a proposal to limit the impact of a court judgment on retirement benefits for members of the St. Louis Police Department. The bill has grown to also include: Provisions banning state-established pension funds from making investments where environmental, social or governance concerns influence financial decisions 'in a manner that would override…fiduciary duties'; A ban on pension fund investments in Chinese securities and the withdrawal of funds from pooled investments that include shares in companies based in China or controlled by its government or ruling Communist Party. Funds would have until 2028 to comply; A requirement that Kansas City police officers retire at age 65 or after 35 years on the job, whichever is earlier. The bill required portions of two days to debate in the Senate, where a provision doubling a pension tax exemption for lower-income retirees was stripped from the bill. The tax cut would have reduced state revenue by about $140 million annually. Democrats questioned several provisions. State Sen. Stephen Webber, a Columbia Democrat, said he was surprised to see the provisions barring investment decisions based on governance next to the provision banning investments in China because it is out of political favor. 'I can see both pieces making sense,' Webber said. 'It's just weird to see them both together.' 'That's where you and I work,' Black replied. 'Some days, bill after bill, they all lay together and it seems like we'll all be singing Mary Poppins songs and flying with an umbrella. And then sometimes we end up with stuff like this, that right one right after another in a spreadsheet, and they seem opposite of each other.' The failed ballot measure would have also authorized a court fee to support the pensions of elected prosecutors. 'Do you think that's probably the last fix we'll need on the sheriffs for a while?' state Sen. Tracy McCreery, an OlivetteDemocrat, asked Black. 'I hope so,' he said. 'Prosecuting attorneys are next in line.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Push to allow online lottery ticket sales in Missouri adds new issue to budget talks
Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, right, and Vice Chairman Rusty Black speak with state budget director Dan Haug April 16 during a break in committee work (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent). A provision quietly tucked into the state budget last week to allow the bulk online purchase of lottery tickets has set off a flurry of lobbying on both sides of the issue as lawmakers finalize their work this week on Missouri's $49.5 billion spending plan. The change, which was added by the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee without any public debate, would open the door for lottery courier services — companies that charge fees to buy lottery tickets on behalf of customers. The business model has proven controversial in other states, even sparking a criminal investigation in Texas. The Senate finished debating the state operating budget about midnight on Tuesday of last week and by Thursday, lobbyists were bending the ears of lawmakers with seats on the conference committee that will decide the provision's fate. Lobbyists working for casinos and the bill to allow video lottery games — groups generally at odds — are opposing it. The major lottery courier companies like Jackpocket and have hired veteran Jefferson City lobbyists to push for their interests in Missouri. 'I had six or seven people come pull me off the (House) floor to talk about that language specifically,' said state Rep. Betsy Fogle of Springfield, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee. 'They are concerned with doing it through the budget and making the argument that we're legislating through the budget and that should be a statutory conversation.' All budget decisions must be made before this week's 6 p.m. Friday constitutional deadline. Conference committees on 13 spending bills making up the operating budget must settle differences on hundreds of items, including the lottery language, and close the $1.6 billion gap between the House and Senate on total spending. The lottery provision in the Senate budget — about 125 words in all — directs the Missouri Lottery to launch a three-year pilot program 'allowing the digital delivery of lottery tickets by lottery couriers through a brick and mortar licensed retailer to adults physically present in Missouri at the time of order.' The language also exempts the sales from lottery rules barring retailers from altering the price of tickets. Courier services typically add a 15% to 25% surcharge on the cost of tickets. That is far more than licensed lottery retailers make selling tickets. Lottery retailers are paid a 5% commission on the tickets they sell and 2% for cashing tickets up to $600. 'It doesn't say that our Missouri lottery has to utilize this,' said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, a Springfield Republican. 'It just kind of opens it up for them to use it if they wanted to.' There are 45 states that have lotteries, but only nine allow lottery courier services. Some allow courier services to deliver their tickets anywhere in the world, while others, like the provision in the Missouri budget, only allow it for residents of their state. Questions raised about courier operations led the Texas Lottery Commission last week to ban ticket sales through couriers, Texas Public Radio reported. The issues being confronted in Texas included an April 2023 drawing won by a consortium led by London-based trader Bernard Marantelli, which bought all 25.8 million possible number combinations to win a $92 million prize. Lottery sales in Missouri fell by $50 million in the most recent fiscal year and transfers from sales to education programs are down 15% in the current year. The lottery provides about 4% of the state's total education funding. The Missouri Lottery, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment on the proposal. Hough said he did not know about the issues in Texas when he added the language and the lottery director was indifferent to the idea. 'My guess is it probably comes out,' Hough said. State Sen. Joe Nicola laughs during his introduction to the Missouri Senate on the first day of the 2025 legislative session (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). Transparency complaints In the four months leading up to last week's debate, Hough met with a parade of visitors to his office where they discussed budget requests in private. Almost every change made by the Senate committee to the House's version of the budget was done by Hough directing the decision. He made cuts, stated the new sections for earmarks and the other 12 members generally were silent. In all, the Senate put 169 earmarked items into the operating budget while cutting 57 of 105 House earmarks. New state Sen. Joe Nicola, a Republican from Independence, complained at the end of the budget debate that the Senate should have more than five hours to debate the budget because of its complexity of the budget and the often-obscure language used to identify the target of earmarks. The lottery courier language that appeared in the budget for the first time in the Senate Appropriations Committee is an example of the issue he has with the process, Nicola said. 'The whole chairmanship and the whole committee, and the way senators have to ask for budget items, all of that is bogus,' Nicola said. 'It's all deal making, bogus stuff.' Hough defended the Senate budget process as transparent because each budget item, as proposed by the governor, was aired in a public hearing and the changes were announced in public. 'We run as open and transparent a budget process as there is in this business,' Hough said. 'We go through requests from not just specific senators but also representatives and stakeholders and advocacy groups all over the state in a very open way.' Nicola visited him to ask for budget items, Hough noted at a news conference Thursday. 'I visited with Senator Nicola a number of times on a number of specific items that I will more than gladly remind him are actually in the budget now, per his request,' Hough said. 'So, in my opinion, I think it probably worked pretty well for him.' Senate leadership from both parties said they are comfortable with that process and back Hough. 'I give credit to Sen. Hough, who's run a good process there,' said Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck , a Democrat fromAffton. 'Everybody has their say in it.' What to some may appear to be mysterious is actually hundreds of hours of work and attention to detail that should be admired, O'Laughlin said. 'We're in a strong position heading into conference with the House, and I'm confident that we'll finish with the budget that Missourians can be proud of,' O'Laughlin said. The biggest change needed in the budget process, Nicola said, is for the public to easily know which lawmaker or stakeholder asked for an earmark. In the U.S. Congress, members put their earmark requests on their web sites. U.S. Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, has six projects costing $21 million on his infrastructure list, while U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, a Republican from Tarkio, has $322 million on his list for the current fiscal year. The legislature should also publish the name of the lawmaker or entity requesting money, Nicola said. 'As much transparency as we can have, I am completely for,' Nicola said. 'Transparency to our constituents and to everybody else of what's going on here.' Missouri House Democratic Leader Ashley Aune of Kansas City makes a point Thursday during a news conference with other Democratic lawmakers (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent), Conference questions Missouri is sitting on an historically high surplus of general revenue, with $3.8 billion on hand at the end of April as well as another $1.4 billion that can be spent like general revenue. Both the Senate and the House spending plans would reduce that surplus. The Senate would spend $15.7 billion on operations, the House would spend $14.4 billion and both are well above the $13.6 billion estimated as general revenue receipts for the coming year. But with current revenues almost 2% from last year, the call on the surplus could grow. Based on revenues through Friday, that difference could be as much as $100 million. Before the conference committees meet, Hough and House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton will meet privately to find agreement on as many items as possible and present those decisions at the meeting, which has yet to be scheduled. The biggest issues that must be resolved are $300 million the Senate added money for public schools, plus $107 million for child care that the House did not approve. The Senate also spent more on state employee pay raises and higher education. The House approved $50 million to expand a tuition scholarship program for private schools that the Senate omitted. Democrats, who hold fewer than one-third of the seats in the General Assembly, are generally pleased with the budget, preferring the Senate version on several items. But House Democrats feel their negotiating position on two of the biggest — foundation formula funding and money for private school tuition scholarships — was undermined when House Speaker Jon Patterson rejected some of their selections for the negotiations. During a news conference last week, Democrats said most of their caucus supports the Senate spending proposals on public schools and child care and opposes the scholarship funding. But the party did not get its preferred representatives on the 13 conference committees — one for each spending bill — because instead of including the ranking Democrat from appropriations subcommittees, as recommended, Patterson chose another member. The biggest surprise was the selection of state Rep. Marlene Terry, a St. Louis Democrat who does not sit on the Budget Committee but has sided with Republicans on school choice bills. 'To come down to the very end of this process and feel disrespected at the end is a huge disappointment to me,' said House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Democrat from Kansas City. 'It's a huge disappointment to our budget team, and to say that I am a little frustrated by it would be probably an understatement.' Patterson said he appointed Terry because she is his Democratic appointment to a school funding task force created by Gov. Mike Kehoe and a long-time school board member. She also supports the scholarship funding, he noted. 'I want Rep. Terry to fight for school kids in the best way that she knows how. I think she is supportive of that,' Patterson said. The conferees must also determine the fate of earmarked spending — items delivering money to a specific location or program at the request of individual lawmakers, state institutions or lobbying interests. 'I wouldn't anticipate that all investments for our local nonprofits and for communities back home will see themselves across the finish line,' Fogle said.'But we as Democrats will be at the table to try to make sure that we're making the fiscally responsible investments in our nonprofits, in our communities back home, whether it be an infrastructure investment or an investment with a nonprofit whose whose goal is to provide pathos out of poverty for families.' Defending the earmarks at a news conference Thursday, Hough said that many provide only a portion of the money needed for a project and require local and private matching funds to spend the state funds. 'This invests,' Hough said, 'in apprenticeship programs, workforce development programs, infrastructure projects all over the state.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Missouri lawmakers should reject fake ‘chaplains' in schools bill
A chaplain is not just a pastor or a Sunday School teacher or a street preacher shouting through a bullhorn. This is a unique role, often in a secular setting that requires a chaplain to assist with a variety of religious traditions and oversee a number of administrative tasks (). As the 2025 legislative session of the Missouri General Assembly nears the finish line, one bill moving closer to Gov. Mike Kehoe's desk purports to allow public schools to hire spiritual chaplains. However, if one reads the text of the legislation, it's actually just pushing chaplains in name only. The bill already cleared the Senate and House committees, thus just needing support from the full House. As a Baptist minister and the father of a public school child, I hope lawmakers will recognize the bill remains fundamentally flawed. A chaplain is not just a pastor or a Sunday School teacher or a street preacher shouting through a bullhorn. This is a unique role, often in a secular setting that requires a chaplain to assist with a variety of religious traditions and oversee a number of administrative tasks. That's why the U.S. military, Missouri Department of Corrections, and many other institutions include standards for chaplains like meeting educational requirements, having past experience, and receiving an endorsement from a religious denominational body. In contrast, the legislation on school 'chaplains' originally sponsored by Republican Sens. Rusty Black and Mike Moon includes no requirements for who can be chosen as a paid or volunteer school 'chaplain.' Someone chosen to serve must pass a background check and cannot be a registered sex offender, but those are baseline expectations for anyone serving in our schools. While a good start, simply passing a background check does mean one is qualified to serve as a chaplain. The only other stipulation in the bill governing who can serve as a school 'chaplain' is that they must be a member of a religious group that is eligible to endorse chaplains for the military. Senators added this amendment to prevent atheists or members of the Satanic Temple from qualifying as a school 'chaplain.' Members of the Satanic Temple testified in a Senate Education Committee hearing that they opposed the bill but would seek to fill the positions if created, which apparently spooked lawmakers. That discriminatory amendment, however, does nothing to ensure a chosen 'chaplain' is actually qualified. For instance, the Episcopal Church is on the military's list of endorsing organizations. Just because some Episcopalians meet the military's requirements for chaplains and can serve does not mean all Episcopalians should be considered for a chaplaincy position. While rejecting this unnecessary bill is the best option, if lawmakers really want to create a school chaplaincy program, they must significantly alter the bill to create real chaplain standards. Lawmakers could look to other states for inspiration on how to fix it. For instance, Arizona lawmakers a few weeks ago passed a similar bill — except their legislation includes numerous requirements to limit who can serve as a chaplain. Among the various standards in the Arizona bill is that individuals chosen to serve as a school chaplain must hold a Bachelor's degree, have at least two years of experience as a chaplain, have a graduate degree in counseling or theology or have at least seven years of chaplaincy experience and have official standing in a local religious group. Rather than passing a pseudo-chaplaincy bill, Missouri lawmakers should add similar provisions. The Arizona bill also includes other important guardrails missing in Missouri's bill that will help protect the rights of students and their parents. Arizona lawmakers created provisions to require written parental consent for students to participate in programs provided by a chaplain. Especially given the lack of standards for who can serve as a school 'chaplain,' the absence of parental consent forms remains especially troubling. Additionally, Missouri's school 'chaplain' bill includes no prohibition against proselytization. This is particularly concerning since the conservative Christian group who helped craft the bill in Missouri and other states — and who sent a representative to Jefferson City to testify for the bill in a committee hearing — has clearly stated their goal is to bring unconstitutional government prayer back into public schools. To be clear, the U.S. Supreme Court did not kick prayer out of schools. As long as there are math tests, there will be prayer in schools. What the justices did was block the government from writing a prayer and requiring students to listen to it each day. Such government coercion violated the religious liberty rights of students, parents, and houses of worship, so the justices rightly prohibited it. Using 'chaplains' to return to such coercion is wrong and should be opposed. There are many proposals and initiatives lawmakers could focus on in these waning weeks of the session if they really want to improve public education. There are numerous ways they could work to better support our teachers and assist our students. Attempting to turn public schools into Sunday Schools is not the answer.
