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Missouri supplemental budget shows shortfall in Medicaid, education funding • Missouri Independent

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Missouri supplemental budget shows shortfall in Medicaid, education funding • Missouri Independent


Keeping Missouri state government operating through June 30 will cost $2.1 billion more than lawmakers budgeted last year thanks to lowballed spending estimates, sluggish lottery sales and new programs in education and other areas.

The election-year budget plan approved last year totaled $51.6 billion after Gov. Mike Parson was finished with vetoes that fell heavily on earmarked items inserted by legislators. While Parson was paring back on pork, lawmakers slashed spending in the Medicaid program to keep the topline total down.

New Gov. Mike Kehoe on Tuesday delivered his $53.7 billion budget for the coming fiscal year. It came with the supplemental spending request that took up most of a six-hour hearing Wednesday in the House Budget Committee.

Gov. Mike Kehoe dips deeply into surplus as Missouri budget grows to nearly $54 billion

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The Medicaid program spent $12.6 billion on medical services in fiscal 2024 and billions more on mental health and other services. Lawmakers appropriated $13.6 billion for medical services the current year and Kehoe is asking for $15.8 billion in the year starting July 1.

The biggest item in the supplemental spending request is $942 million to cover a Medicaid shortfall. More realistic budgeting last year would have reduced that amount, MO HealthNet Director Todd Richardson told The Independent.

“They took about a 25% core cut last year,” he said.

The supplemental request is larger than last year, which was $580 million, but smaller than each of the three previous years, when federal pandemic aid and state employee pay raises inflated the totals.

Along with the new governor, the budget committee has a new chairman, state Rep. Dirk Deaton, a Republican from Noel. It also has a new vice-chairman, GOP state Rep. Bishop Davidson of Republic, who is also new to the committee.

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Under state budget rules, lawmakers cannot add items to the supplemental budget but they can reduce or eliminate them. Deaton said it is too early to say whether the proposal will see major changes. 

“We’re still doing the due diligence, and we certainly need to take a look at it and make sure there’s the justification for it, and run everything through the traps,” Deaton said.

Davidson said he’s working to learn the jargon and the process for setting spending levels.

“We have a really awesome staff that are not only good analysts and good researchers, but they’re good teachers as well,” he said.

Major items in the supplemental request include:

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  • $142.4 million for the state foundation formula for public schools. Of that amount, $47.4 million is due to increases mandated by a major education bill passed last year. The remaining $95 million is general revenue being used to replace a shortfall in lottery proceeds.
  • $129.8 million for the Department of Mental Health to eliminate waiting lists for developmental disability and behavioral health services.
  • $110 million for the mental health agency to pay community providers of services for people with developmental disabilities.
  • $95 million to cover the expected cost of home and community-based services in the Medicaid program.
  • $20.7 million to cover a higher rate for health care provided to people in the custody of the Department of Corrections. The department extended the current health care contract with Centurion Health for four years, paying $21.65 per day for each person in custody.

In the early part of the hearing, State Budget Director Dan Haug and department leaders in attendance were often peppered with detailed questions about the budget lines. Later, as the hearing continued through lunch time, the time spent on each shortened.

And when Haug got to the Medicaid request, he even drew laughter.

“This is a page I probably should skip,” Haug joked when he reached the request. “It is only about a billion dollars.”

He received few questions about the request.

Lawmakers wanted to know why the lottery isn’t producing as much as promised last year. The budget included $430 million from the lottery for education programs, a 5% increase over the previous year. 

Instead, net proceeds available for education are down more than 15% during the first six months of the year.

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Haug attributed part of the decline to a dearth of major jackpots, which draw ticket purchases from people who rarely play. State Rep. Louis Riggs, a Hannibal Republican, asked if video games that pay out cash prizes, which have infiltrated every corner of the state at convenience stores and other locations, were to blame.

“How much is that attributable to folks sitting there gorked out all day on those machines, which I don’t think we’re getting any tax revenue from, instead of playing the lottery?” Riggs asked.

Haug said there were no studies, so the answer is unknown.

“That could be a possibility but it is hard for us to quantify it,” he said.

Sometimes the questions focused on issues that weren’t addressed in the supplemental budget but are causing pain at home. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has struggled to implement a new payment system for child care vendors and in August promised to clear a staggering backlog by the start of November.

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On Wednesday, Kari Monsees, deputy commissioner of education, said 70% of the backlog has been cleared and the target for clearing it is the end of February.

That wasn’t an answer that pleased the committee.

“When you have providers saying they are taking money out of their child’s savings accounts to keep their business open so we have child care, I have a problem with that,” said state Rep. Stephanie Hein, a Springfield Democrat.

The education agency took over the child care program when Parson reorganized state government and created the Office of the Child in the department. The department changed its software vendor in December of 2023, and both providers and families enrolling in the program began noticing issues tracking and receiving payment. Some child care centers closed and others turned away families using the subsidy program during months of missed payments.

There are backlogs of payments from before the changeover that must be met, said state Rep. Don Mayhew, a Crocker Republican. 

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The plan for catching up payments only covers those made through the new software, he noted.

“It didn’t include the providers from the previous year who are stuck in this purgatory of old system versus new system,” Mayhew said.

When the committee finished with the supplemental plan, Haug gave a quick overview of the budget proposal for the coming year.

Kehoe is proposing a $200 million increase in the foundation formula, which covers the extra costs imposed by last year’s legislation, but balked at adding another $300 million that the formula shows would meet the full obligation to schools.

A key factor, the state adequacy target — a measure of how much schools that meet state standard spend — increased, driving the $300 million request.

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“Just to be clear, we are not cutting funding to K through 12 education,” Haug said. “We are increasing funding by $200 million in K through 12 education, the largest increase they have gotten under this current formula, the largest increase we could find back to the 90s.”

Haug also discussed how Kehoe would keep his promise to eliminate the state income tax, which provides about 70% of state general revenue.

“I don’t think anyone here wants to cut 70% of state government,” Haug said. “There would have to be some revenue replacement there.”

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Missouri

Alabama couldn’t stop Missouri basketball’s offense. When MU plays like that, can anyone?

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Alabama couldn’t stop Missouri basketball’s offense. When MU plays like that, can anyone?


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The symbolism was a little on the nose.

Shortly after Missouri basketball’s game against Alabama on Wednesday night, a fire was reported in a suite in Section 112 of Mizzou Arena. It was quickly extinguished, and no injuries were reported.

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The cause of the fire? Currently undisclosed.

But it’s surely not a coincidence that it started less than an hour after No. 16/15-ranked Missouri’s offense burned No. 4/4 Alabama for a 110-98 win, right?

The Tigers were hot to the touch, sizzling at a rate the Crimson Tide tried, and failed, mightily to contain.

The fire alarm started ringing about two minutes into Alabama coach Nate Oats’ postgame press conference — ‘‘a fire has been reported,”’” the automated messaging system relayed on repeat around Mizzou Arena’s halls. Oats recognized the immediate irony.

“Yeah,” he said. “They were on fire tonight.”

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Sure were.

Missouri (20-6, 9-4) shot 60.3% from the field. The Tigers clipped nine triples, led by three from Caleb Grill, who scored 25 points in the win. Mizzou scored 40 points in the paint, led by Mark Mitchell’s magnificent night working the inside for a career-high 31-point performance. 

Grill and Mitchell combined for an 18 of 23 mark from the free throw line, part of 47 total free throw attempts. Eighteen of Mizzou’s 35 field goals were assisted. The Tigers turned 14 turnovers directly into 21 points.

If there’s an offensive stat to keep, Mizzou likely put up a gaudy total.

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The gaudiest of them all? Missouri scored 1.45 points per possession.

When it looks like it did Wednesday — when Missouri’s offense is operating at its very best — there looked to be exceptionally little Alabama could do to stop the Tigers.

The Tigers did that by making Alabama pick its poison.

The Crimson Tide sagged off Mitchell and Anthony Robinson II at the 3-point line to protect driving lanes on two separate occasions in the first half. They aren’t MU’s best deep-ball shooters, but they punished the Tide for having the gall, knocking down their open looks for triples.

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When Alabama adjusted and started getting bodies to the perimeter, Mitchell came alive inside, working the paint and drawing and-1 opportunities nearly every time the ball came his way.

That was the to-and-fro the Tigers kept pushing. Alabama was forced to abandon one — inside or outside — to try and stop the other.

Missouri’s offensive adjustments were quicker.

“We just have a lot of weapons,” Mitchell said. “I think we can beat you inside. We can obviously beat you outside, and I think that’s probably a hard thing for teams to game plan. We knew some coverages that they might show us and some different looks that they might give us, and we never panicked, just because the coach prepared us so well.”

Missouri needed every swish.

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Alabama was the nation’s No. 3-ranked offense entering the evening, and it sure looked like that. As much as Mizzou did to separate, the game wasn’t out of sight until there was less than a minute on the court.

The Crimson Tide shot 53.8% from the field. They were 13-for-31 (41.9%) from 3-point range. Elite point guard Mark Sears scored 35 points. On two occasions in the second half, Alabama got within six points of MU’s lead.

And still … that wasn’t nearly enough to fully track down Gates’ Tigers.

“I credit Alabama. They did some great things. They gave us their best punch, I just thought our guys were counter-punchers,” Gates said. “And, you know, we were sort of in a in a defensive mode, and were able to punch back. And, again, there were several plays that allowed us to re-spark or reignite our momentum, and these guys just continue to make plays on both ends of the court. And they played the game unselfishly.”

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How about some of those moments?

After Sears tallied six straight points to make it a two-score game with 10 minutes to play, the game was more in the balance than it had been since the first minute of play.

The answer? Trent Pierce fought off traffic after hauling in an offensive board and delicately put a shot back up and in. Mitchell drew an and-1 underneath the rim and scored the free throw. Grill went 2-for-2 at the line and then nailed a 20-footer on an inbounds pass. 

Crisis averted with a 9-0 run in 1 minute, 27 seconds; 15-point lead restored.

The difference in the game, ultimately, was the 12-0 run with which Mizzou opened the game. Everything that was to come was contained within those electric 2:28 of game time.

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Pierce and Robinson knocked down 3s within a minute of tipoff. The duo took fastbreaks straight to the rim for layups. Tamar Bates pump-faked a shot from the corner and took it inside for a couple more paint points.

Dotted throughout, Grill converted some signature who-needs-separation 3s; Tony Perkins made the Tide pay at the line and in the mid-range; Mitchell drew and-1 after and-1; and the Tigers turned 12 steals into instant offense.

Mizzou caught fire and rode that into a win that takes the Tigers into a tie for fourth place in the SEC. With a third top-five victory on the résumé and a sixth Quad 1 win, Gates’ team will likely soon receive projections for a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament.

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Alabama didn’t have answers. 

And when it looks like that, who could?

“When everybody’s playing like that, I just think it’s a tough matchup for anybody,” Grill said. “We’ve just got to keep continuing, as coach said, to keep moving forward and keep getting better each day.”



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Real public safety in Missouri is about more than just creating longer prison sentences

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Real public safety in Missouri is about more than just creating longer prison sentences


The Missouri General Assembly is at a crossroads this legislative session as their constituents demand they do something, almost anything, to put a stop to violent crime. It’s no secret that Missouri ranks in the top 10 states in the U.S. for both violent crime and property crime, and several Missouri communities lead the nation with high crime rates. […]



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Public defender’s office draws outrage from Missouri GOP leaders over hiring convicted felon

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Public defender’s office draws outrage from Missouri GOP leaders over hiring convicted felon


Republican leaders of the Missouri House on Tuesday joined the chorus of lawmakers blasting the state public defender’s office for employing a man who was convicted of two felonies in connection to the 2007 rape and murder of his stepdaughter. In a joint statement issued Tuesday, House Speaker Jon Patterson and other members of the […]



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