Proposed Budget Highlights
The governor’s “Securing Missouri’s Future” budget is focused on investing in priorities to ensure a safer, stronger, and more prosperous Missouri. The budget proposal is aimed at securing safer streets, quality education, access to affordable childcare, and increased economic opportunities. Highlights of the budget include:
Public Safety
- Funding to construct a new 20,000 square foot crime lab in Cape Girardeau
- A new grant program to support the training and equipment needs of the newly established Blue Shield Program
- Support for the testing of school wastewater to identify and address high-use areas of fentanyl for law enforcement
- Contribution to the Missouri Sheriffs’ Retirement System to ensure the fund remains solvent
- State funding to support a loss of federal funding for community-based victim assistance programs and services
- Funding to deploy 200 more trained law enforcement officers on the street
- Support for Re-Entry 2030, which assists justice-involved individuals with securing employment upon release with the goal of reducing recidivism
Economic Development
- Funding for the Child Care Subsidy Program, continuing current eligibility levels for families, aligning the payment structure for childcare providers with private payors, and strengthening the childcare providers that serve this population
- Increases investments to improve rural roads
- Supports Missouri’s hosting of the 2026 FIFA World Cup
- One-time funding to support capital and equipment needs for career centers across the state, as well as additional funding to support the ongoing operations
- Resources for childcare partnerships between employers, community partners, and childcare programs to expand access to childcare
- Adds funds to support dedicated college and career advisors in high schools across the state who will connect students to high-demand career paths and training programs
Agriculture
- Bonding for new livestock facilities at the Missouri State Fair to be paid back over time by a portion of the revenues generated by these facilities
- Increases Missouri’s inspection and production capacity in the meat and poultry industry
- Additional support for the prevention of and response to animal disease events in Missouri like Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and African Swine Fever
Education
- State funding to support K-12 public school districts and charter schools, including new funding to support the foundation formula
- Supports the state’s full reimbursement of transportation costs to school districts
- State funding for the Empowerment Scholarship Account Program to ensure more Missouri families have access to education options that best meet the needs of their children
- Funding to ensure all teachers are paid at least the statutory minimum
- Allocates resources towards Small School Grants, which support approximately 200 school districts across the state
- A 1.5 percent increase for all four-year public universities, community colleges, and State Technical College of Missouri
- Funding for the state revolving loan fund supporting charter school capital improvement needs
- Expands scholarships for working adults returning to school for programs in high demand fields
Healthcare and Mental Health
- Provides MO HealthNet waiver services for 3,700 new individuals with developmental disabilities in need of residential services and in-home support to eliminate current and future waitlists
- Providing MO HealthNet behavioral health services for an additional 2,102 adults and 6,734 children in need of residential services and in-home support
- Continued support to children ages birth to three with disabilities or delays
- A greater than 50 percent increase to current funding to support services, counseling, and adoption assistance for pregnant women across the state
- Continued operations of the state suicide and crisis lifeline
- An additional 30 community behavioral health liaisons
- Ongoing operations for five new behavioral health crisis centers
Veterans and Military Services
- Funding to support veterans homes and provide quality care
- Allocates dollars toward replacing outdated nurse call systems in veterans homes
- Invests in a cloud-based electronic health record system for state veterans homes
Government Improvements
- Funding to support a one percent salary increase for every two years of service, up to ten percent for all state employees
- Various enhancements to the information technology infrastructure of the Family Support Division
- Additional support for the state child abuse and neglect hotline