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The Senate begins work Tuesday on Missouri’s roughly $50 billion state budget, with questions still swirling around renewing a tax that funds Medicaid and a GOP infighting that could derail the process.
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Included in the budget is a 3.2% pay increase for state workers, money to fully fund school transportation and funds to improve Interstate 44. However, the House version of the budget is about $2 billion less than Gov. Mike Parson requested for the upcoming fiscal year.
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The Senate still could include the increase when considering its version of the budget.
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Missouri House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith cut the time set aside for amending his spending plan but said the final product is ‘largely the same.’
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The annual state budget and a tax that funds the bulk of Missouri’s Medicaid program are two things that must pass this session.
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Gov. Mike Parson vetoed roughly 200 line items in the Missouri budget, primarily contending that he wanted to prevent financial difficulties in future years.
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The nearly $52 billion budget was generally lauded by both political parties.
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House leadership says the speaker of the House did not follow Democrats’ recommendations for budget conference appointees.
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Senate Appropriations Chair Lincoln Hough said after speaking with departments, businesses and vendors, he recommended removing the anti-diversity, equity and inclusion language. The committee still must pass the budget bills before they can make it to the Senate floor.
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Instead of speaking on the billions of dollars within the Missouri budget, House Democrats repeatedly spoke out against language added to each bill that prohibits spending on anything associated with diversity, equity and inclusion. That language is expected to be stripped out in the Senate.