4-4-25 Legislative Update
MAHC Members:
Legislative Update
Budget Update – No Rate Increases for Home Care Included in House Budget
The House finished crafting their version of the Fiscal Year 2026 operating budget this week. On Tuesday, Budget Chairman Dirk Deaton (R-Seneca) brought the thirteen operating bills before the full House. Over the course of the five hour debate, few substantive changes were made through the amendment process. Democrats offered a series of amendments including an amendment that would have restored the State Adequacy Target rate to $7,076, which fully funds the school foundation formula, an amendment to remove the $50 million in General Revenue for private school vouchers (called the MO Scholars Program) and attempted to fund a series of community non-profit organizations but was ultimately unsuccessful.
On Monday, the state had $3.8 billion in general revenue surplus, down from an historic high of $5.7 billion in 2023. The FY2026 budget anticipates leaving about $1.9 billion in General Revenue unspent. The House operating budget plan has cut almost $800 million in general revenue and is $2.1 billion less than Governor Mike Kehoe’s $54 billion spending plan. This was achieved by removing almost all funds that have remaining unspent (called lapsed) funding, reducing Medicaid expenditures to match enrollment rather than projected enrollment and reducing the recommended state employee pay raise. Additionally, the budget now contains 105 earmarked projects, 9 of which were added Monday, totaling over $170 million.
There are three capital improvement bills which have yet to go through the full committee process and it is expected the mark-up process for those bills will take place next week. Meanwhile, the 13 operating budget bills will be sent to the Senate for their consideration.
We will continue to advocate for appropriate rate increases as the budget moves over to the Senate. The constitutional deadline to pass the budget is 6pm on Friday May 9th.
Modifications of Proposition A
Prior to leaving on Spring Break, on March 13th the House took up and dedicated floor time to HB 567. This legislation seeks to alter Proposition A which was approved by a statewide vote in November 2024. This bill modifies the schedule of minimum wage increases or decreases by terminating such schedule as of December 31, 2024. Currently, the minimum wage is set to be increased or decreased on January 1, 2027, and on January 1 of successive years, based on increases or decreases of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. This bill repeals that scheduled adjustment. Additionally, these provisions currently do not apply to public employers, as that term is defined in the bill. This bill changes that applicability for public employers beginning on the effective date of this bill. However, the most significant change is that the bill completely eliminates the required sick leave provisions.
The bill was third read and passed out of the House on the 13th. It is now in the Senate. The Senate Committee on General Laws convened Wednesday morning, March 26 for a public hearing. After hearing testimony from both proponents and opponents, the committee immediately entered executive session to discuss passage of the bill. After a brief discussion, the committee passed the bill out of committee by a 5-2 vote. The bill is now in fiscal oversight and should then head to the Senate floor for debate in the coming weeks.
Also, on Wednesday, March 12th, the Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments for a lawsuit seeking to strike down Proposition A. A coalition of business groups and individuals argued the proposition should be thrown out for violating constitutional rules on ballot initiatives which include violations of the single-subject requirement and lack of clear title. The most recent update we heard indicated that a decision is anticipated in early May but there is no confirmation on a specific date.
Stay tuned for any additional developments.
Thanks,
Carol Hudspeth
Executive Director
