Photo: House Communications

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Despite criticism from Gov. Jay Nixon, House Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stream said Thursday he would move forward with his own plan for funding for a new Fulton State Hospital.

Speaking with reporters, Stream, a St. Louis Republican, said he was considering a handful of ideas on how to fund Fulton, including bonding or a two to three-year appropriation, and would make an official announcement on Monday.

“We are committed this year to do something to get the Fulton hospital built. That has never been in doubt,” Stream said. Stream indicated he was more leaning toward paying for the Fulton project with an appropriation because of the long-term interest costs associated with bonding.

His statement came a day after Nixon, a Democrat, was critical of Stream’s committee for not including funding for his Fulton bonding idea in its 2014 supplemental budget passed on Wednesday. Speaking with reporters, Nixon said the bonding proposal was the “most cost effective way of doing this.”

“Missourians are sick and tiered about excuses on this sort of stuff,” he said.

What both sides agree on is the crumbling, high-security, 163 year old psychiatric hospital is in desperate need of repair. The disagreement is how to find the $198 million needed for the facility’s construction. Nixon has called on lawmakers to appropriate $14 million in the supplemental budget and another $14 million in Fiscal Year 2015 so the state could start issuing bonds.

Stream will announce his own proposal on Monday, joined by State Rep. Jeannie Riddle, whose district includes Fulton, and House Majority Leader John Diehl, the incoming Speaker of the House.