A House effort to arrive at a successful performance-based model for funding the state’s colleges and universities launched on Tuesday.
Representative Brenda Shields (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The House Special Interim Committee on Higher Education Performance Funding held an introductory hearing, in which it heard several presentations about the past attempts at performance-based funding.
What the legislature is using now in setting higher education funding is a “base plus” model, but Shields said no one has been able to tell her where that base came from.
MU System President Mun Choi addresses the House Special Interim Committee on Higher Education Performance Funding (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Tuesday’s hearing set the Department of Higher Education to the task of creating a work group with representation from all the institutions of higher education in the state.
House Democrats spoke to the media and fielded questions after the close of business on Friday about the Fiscal Year 2023 budget, which was sent today to Governor Mike Parson (R).
A bill aimed at addressing a shortage of law enforcement officers has advanced through a House committee.
Representative Lane Roberts (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
House Bill 1703 is sponsored by Representative Lane Roberts (R-Joplin), who was a chief of police in multiple communities including Joplin and is a past director of the Department of Public Safety. He said before a person can apply for employment as a law enforcement officer in Missouri they must first have their license.
Roberts’ bill would create the “Peace Officer Basic Training Tuition Reimbursement Program.” This would pay back individuals for that training over a period of four years if they find a law enforcement job and retain it for four years.
Roberts told the Committee on Crime Prevention his bill aims to make the potential cost of training less of a barrier, particular for two groups of people he hopes to incent toward pursuing law enforcement careers.
HB 1703 would also require that law enforcement instructors and their curriculum be approved by the Department of Public Safety. This stemmed from an amendment offered by Representative Kevin Windham (D-Hillsdale) to last year’s version of the legislation. Windham said it was in answer to something that happened in St. Louis County.
Representative Kevin Windham (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Last year’s version the legislation was approved by the House 152-1 but it stalled in the Senate. HB 1703 has been approved by the Crime Prevention committee and needs one more committee’s action before going to the full House.