ST. LOUIS—Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Friday signed the state’s $51.B million budget for the 2024 fiscal year, slated to start Saturday.
The budget includes funding to expand Interstate 70 from Wentzville to Blue Springs, full funding for the K-12 school foundation formula and school transportation.
"With this budget, our administration has done the right thing – the conservative thing – to make strategic investments and maintain responsible spending," Parson said in a statement. "Missouri's economy is strong. Our revenues are up, businesses are growing and investing, and we maintain a historic revenue surplus, but we must not spend just for the sake of spending.”
Parson issued 201 line-item vetoes, totaling $555.3 million. Among the St. Louis area projects that lost money to the veto pen:
$46 million for the design, construction, maintenance, repairs, improvements and upgrades to the Nursing Allied Health building at St. Louis Community College.
$13 million for roof maintenance, repairs and a lead assessment of the Riverview Gardens School District
$13 million for design and construction of a police center in the city of St. Louis
$12 million for the design and construction of a law enforcement training facility in O’Fallon, Mo.
$7 million to upgrade St. Charles County’s emergency dispatch call and phone system
A proposed $20 million in funding for a new 911 public safety dispatch center in St. Louis was reduced to $10 million, while a budget item for $25 million for Great Rivers Greenway was reduced to $15.
Parson vetoed $5 million for a low-interest loan program for drinking water infrastructure in St. Charles, saying there were potential constitutional issues because it involved lending the state’s credit to a municipal corporation.
In many cases, Parson cited the projects as a local responsibility that lacked statewide impact. In others, he said there were other funds available that should be tapped instead. The veto messages also include references to legislation passed by the General Assembly “estimated to result in a loss of ongoing general revenues exceeding $300 million and increasing ongoing general revenues by over $200 million.”
A Parson spokesperson could not be reached to clarify, but State Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis told Spectrum News he believes it refers to the tax cuts passed by state lawmakers in a special session last fall and signed into law by the Governor.
“The MO governor just vetoed $13mil for a police center and $10mil for a public safety access point in STL City… in addition to the $5.2mil he vetoed for youth crime prevention, violence intervention and respite housing, and so many more budget vetoes. Mostly one time costs,” Merideth said on Twitter.
“With a multi-billion dollar one-time surplus we’ve never had before…. Just sitting in the bank. Saying we can’t afford these things bc of the billion $ tax cut he signed last year that mostly benefits wealthy people and does literally nothing for the bottom third of earners.
The veto announcements prompted concern from Republican State Sen. Nick Schroer, who was upset that St. Charles County, described as the largest and fastest growing county in the state, got short-changed.
“Mark my words- if this is how the people of my county are neglected when it comes to the use of THEIR tax dollars, it is going to be a hell of a lot harder for bloated spending and special interest pork to make its way out of the Missouri Senate. Shameful,” he said on Twitter.
On Monday, a St. Charles County spokesperson said officials were still looking at the vetoed items and considering next steps.