Legislative Update

Legislative Update

Another week of the 2025 legislative session came to an end on Friday. There are now, only two weeks of session remaining.

On Tuesday of last week, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the November voter-approved ballot measure increasing Missouri’s minimum wage and expanding sick leave, Prop A. The court opinion was unanimous and ruled challenges to Prop A were invalid. The decision, written by Chief Justice Mary R. Russell and five other judges, cited that Prop A’s summary was “not misleading or inaccurate so as to constitute an irregularity casting doubt on the election.” The ruling means paid sick leave will be mandatory in Missouri, starting May 1, 2025. As of now, legislation remains in the Senate that would remove the sick leave provision from the law. The fate of the bill remains uncertain, as compromise discussions appear to start and stop without clear progress. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and keep members informed of any new developments.

Budget Update

The Senate finished crafting their version of the FY2026 operating budget this week. Overall, the Senate-passed budget would spend $1.6 billion more than the House-passed budget and $575 million less than Governor Mike Kehoe requested. The General Revenue spent in the Senate is $15.7 billion and is $1.3 billion more than the House version. Additionally, the Senate version of the budget allocates almost $300 million more than Governor Kehoe recommended for the public school foundation formula and cuts the $50 million recommended by the Governor to enlarge a scholarship program for private school tuition.

Other glaring differences between the Senate and House include the state employee pay plan, new child care funding, higher education funding and earmarked projects. The House had 149 earmarks totaling $295 million, of which the Senate cut 57, totaling $126.3 million, but added 169 of their own earmarks totaling $441 million.

In the area of home care, a key difference between the House and Senate budgets is the Senate's inclusion of $11 million in funding to support the Complex Care Assistant (CCA) initiative within the Private Duty Nursing (PDN) program. This initiative would allow a parent, guardian, or family member to be employed by a PDN agency to provide certain CCA services to a medically fragile child or adult.

Therefore, all eyes will be focusing on the two chambers’ conferees this week, as they come together to work out the differences for the FY 2026 budget before the constitutional deadline of Friday, May 9th. We will keep providers posted on the outcome of the $11 million CCA funding after the conference committee meets.

Thanks,

Carol Hudspeth

Executive Director