Legislature Considers Budget Overrides

Next week, the General Assembly will reconvene in Jefferson City to consider overriding the Governor’s vetoes on 33 bills and 120 budget line items. Unfortunately, many of the programs vetoed from the budget would have benefited Missourians and generated savings for the state.

This veto session, the legislature will have an opportunity to improve Missouri’s fiscal outlook by overriding the Governor’s vetoes on programs that offer the state a return on its investment, such as faster detection of genetic diseases in newborns and grants to delay nursing home placement for Missourians with Alzheimer’s. You can find more information about the services that will benefit our state’s budget here.

While Nixon continues to advocate for Medicaid expansion, which would cost Missouri hundreds of millions of dollars, he removed Medicaid reforms from the budget that would improve health outcomes and save the state money. The Governor’s refusal to reform a program he wants to enlarge reveals his interesting, and very misguided, priorities. The legislature should seek to reinstate funding for these valuable improvements, which include comprehensive health homes for foster children, a proactive Medicaid waste and fraud detection system, higher payments for complex rehabilitation equipment providers, and asthma education for families.

Governor Nixon restricted over $1.1 billion from the fiscal year 2015 budget either through vetoes or withholds, and the legislature can only vote to override the vetoed items. Nixon can withhold money indefinitely and may choose to withhold vetoed funds even after the veto is overridden. Due to the state’s slow revenue growth, much of this money may never be released.

Linking this revenue downturn to the historic tax cut enacted by the General Assembly earlier this year, however, is entirely inaccurate. Senate Bill 509, which will reduce the tax burden on Missouri families and businesses, requires that revenues increase by at least $150 million each year before the next phase of the cut takes effect. Missouri’s revenues will have to grow by $750 million in order for the tax cut to be fully implemented.

While many of the vetoed bills deserve consideration during veto session, the legislature should prioritize overriding the budget lines. Missouri’s budget is the legislature’s only constitutionally mandated duty and should be our foremost concern this September.