The House took another step in drafting a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, when the bills that make up that spending plan were filed.

Meanwhile, House appropriations committees continue taking testimony from state agencies and elected officials about how much they want or hope to receive in state money if Fiscal Year ’18.
House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick (R-Shell Knob) said those committees are looking for places the state can save money to offset a $500-million shortfall.
He said lawmakers are looking at renegotiating managed care contracts to reschedule some expenses as the state switches to managed care in FY 18, and examining the funding request from the state employee retirement system to make sure it isn’t unnecessarily great.
Governor Eric Greitens (R) last week recommended changes to his own budget proposal that would see greater spending on public school transportation and on in-home services for low-income residents with disabilities.
Fitzpatrick said the problem is Greitens proposes funding those restorations with money from Missouri’s settlement with tobacco companies. Greitens based his latest proposal on a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that would let Missouri get $52-million in settlement money.
The appropriations committees will begin this week preparing their recommendations for spending in the areas they respectively deal with. In two weeks the main budget committee will prepare its spending proposal with Fitzpatrick’s input, creating a spending plan that will be debated by the full House.
Recent news articles have questioned whether the legislature, in this tight budget year, will fund Missouri’s new voter photo ID law, approved by voters in November. Fitzpatrick said it would be supported.
The bills Fitzpatrick filed last week don’t represent his budget recommendation, but that of Governor Greitens. He said he took that action with a mind for history.