To begin on a personal note, I would like to sincerely thank all who have reached out with your prayers, compassion and support for my dad (Danny Ross) following his diagnosis/treatment of cancer over the past year. This has obviously been a difficult time for him and my entire family, but your thoughts and prayers have meant the world to all of us. I truly believe that this made the difference in his recovery after his surgery and two months of radiation/chemotherapy. It’s a reminder to me of how blessed I am to represent a part of the state that is home to such caring, considerate folks. Whether you were part of the group (church/friends) that cut firewood, if you asked how he was doing, or prayed for his healing; thank you again for all of your support. I’m pleased to report that he’s back to doing the things he enjoys: farming, trucking, and playing with his grandkids (my boys). Far too many across our state and nation are afflicted with this horrible disease, and I look forward to the day that advances in medicine erase cancer from the list of issues that our society must continue to fight.
Tyrone/Schweich:
It was a dark month one year ago after hearing of the news of our State Auditor, Tom Schweich’s death (which was shortly followed by the death of his Chief of Staff, Spence Jackson) and waking up the following morning to the horrific events that had occurred in Tyrone Missouri involving friends and neighbors. Although a year has passed, it hasn’t made the events less tragic. We should continue to remember and pray for the comfort and healing of the affected families, our communities, and our state.
Budget:
This has been another extremely busy legislative session with the first part of the year requiring a great deal of my time devoted to the budget. Here’s how the process works: State agencies make their budget requests in October of each year, and then the Governor makes his recommendations following his State of the State address in January. Bills (1-13) are then filed in t
he House of Representatives by the Budget Chairman and are heard/amended by the various Appropriation Committees. The budget then moves to the Select Budget Committee which I am an active member of, and after amendments are made the bills then go to the entire House of Representatives, where they are amended again.
After being passed by the House of Representatives, the bills move to the Senate where the process begins again in the Senate Appropriations Committees and are then heard/amended by the full Senate. After passage out of the Senate, the bills go to Conference where differences between the House and Senate are reconciled. It should be noted that changes can and do occur to the budget at each stop along the way, which adds to the complexity of discussing amendments.
As the budget process begins generally a Consensus Revenue Estimate (CRE) is agreed upon by the House Budget Chairman, Senate Appropriation Chairman and the Governor’s Director of Budget and Planning. This is the target percentage/number of growth that the budgets are built towards. The Governor’s recommendations/budget was created believing that the State of Missouri would experience 4.1% increase in revenue growth. The House and Senate do not agree and further believe that the growth will be much closer to 3.1%. While 1% seems small in terms of a percentage, this actually translates into many millions of dollars.
It is politically within the Governor’s interest to overestimate the amount of revenue that our state will receive, allowing him to budget funding to various groups across our state; even if the revenue for that funding is unlikely materialize. As many will remember when the tax cut was being proposed in 2014, Governor Nixon withheld funding from our schools, seniors, mental health facilities and other vulnerable Missourians in an effort to leverage the Legislature to sustain his veto of the incremental tax reduction. The Legislature believes in building realistic budgets that are not artificially inflated with unrealistic income expectations/promises.
As Chair of the General Administration Appropriations Committee, House Bills 1, 5, 12, & 13, begin the process in this committee, and following are several amendments that I successfully implemented:
·$12 Million appropriation to the Edward Jones Dome cut – While this appropriation is specific to the Jones Dome in Saint Louis, Governor Nixon initially planned to use this funding to extend the bonds for a new taxpayer funded stadium for the STL Rams, and has more recently been interested in building a soccer stadium; both without the support of Missouri citizens or the Legislature. I strongly disagree with indebting the taxpayers an additional $500 Million dollars, and subsequently cut this appropriation to stop his efforts. After a heated meeting with the Speaker of the House, the Governor provided his commitment that he would not move forward on any taxpayer funded stadiums, without a vote of the people or the Legislature; which allowed for the restoration of the $12M line at the Budget Committee level.
·Alternatives to Abortion – The funding for this program resides in HB5 and goes to the various Pregnancy Resource Centers around the state (locally we have Mountain Grove, Rolla, and most recently, Houston) to help young women in a time of need, in finding solutions other than abortion; including health, wellness and counseling services. This funding was increased to the 2% of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding level received by the state.
·Libraries – The state provides funding for local libraries through two streams; State Aid for Public Libraries, and the Remote Electronic Access for Libraries (REAL) line (which involves internet connectivity for libraries). Many of Missouri’s citizens depend on our local libraries for information and to complete everyday activities. This funding resides in HB12, in Secretary of State Jason Kander’s budget, and has been reduced over the last couple of years through his department request, and also Governor Nixon’s recommendations. My amendments restores those cuts, to prevent a loss of service for our citizens across the state that can least afford it.
·Many of the cuts/savings that occur within my appropriations committee are later utilized in the next step of the budgeting process, although House Rules prevent me from making those amendments directly. For instance, last year the Legislature increased the K-12 Foundation Formula (money which goes to our local schools) by $84 Million dollars across the state. Slightly above one-quarter of this total amount is the direct result of work which occurred in my committee, which reduced the Governor’s budget recommendations in other areas by $23 Million dollars. These funds are then relocated to other areas of the budget (HB2 in the case of K-12 funding) by the Budget Chairman when the House Committee Substitutes (HCS) for each of the budget bills are filed for consideration by the full Budget Committee.
Our state budget is a matter of priorities, and there is nothing more important to me, than how your hard earned tax dollars are spent. In my next Capitol Report, we will discuss amendments that have been made at the Budget Committee/House Floor levels, in addition to the status of legislation working its way through the process. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you!
Robert Ross serves the 142nd House District in the Missouri House of Representatives. Contact him at 573-751-1490 or Robert.Ross@house.mo.gov.