Photo: House Communications
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – House Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stream is moving forward with the Fiscal Year 2015 budget, but on his own terms.
On Thursday, Stream, a St. Louis Republican, filed budget bills to serve as starting points for subcommittee chairmen beginning work on Fiscal Year 2015 appropriations. Together, the bills aim to be $310 million less than the budget proposed by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, as leaders from the two branches continue their disagreement over how much revenue they believe the state will have in the upcoming year.
“We’ve taken the truly agreed and finally passed bills from the last fiscal year and made an estimate of what I think the additional funding over and above last year’s bill where we can spend the money,” Stream said. “I’m going to increase funding in virtually every area, but it won’t be to the levels the governor proposed.”
Stream said he used the Fiscal Year 2014 bills as starting points. Committee chairmen have been guidance as to how much additional funding they can add, including an additional $317 million for education spending; $132.6 million for Health, Mental Health, and Social Services; $56.8 million for general administration; $15.6 million for economic development; $13 million for corrections; and $5.6 million for agriculture.
Stream said the House is committed to offering new funding to build the Fulton State Hospital, but is still trying to decide how to move forward. He met with Nixon this week to hear his case for revenue bonds. The House is also considering general obligation bonds or just trying to fund it with revenue.
“I don’t want to say we’re any closer, but we’re getting there,” he said.
While Stream was speaking with reporters here at the Capitol, Nixon was 30 miles north in Columbia campaigning for his budget, which includes millions more in federal money for Medicaid expansion and relies a significantly higher revenue estimate. Speaking at the Burrell Behavioral Health Center, Nixon said Medicaid expansion will have a “net positive” of $94.2 million in the upcoming budget.
“Strengthening and reforming Medicaid will give nearly 50,000 Missourians with mental illness the care they desperately need, and yield savings of nearly $100 million next year alone,” he said. “But we can only realize these benefits if we take action and reform Medicaid the Missouri way.”
Nixon said Missouri has lost $200 million in dollars that would have been spent here without expansion. “This adds up to $2 billion, or $500 for every Missouri taxpayer, every year,” he said.