Senate panel adds funding for school transportation, scholarships

BY MAIA BOND

Missouri News Network

JEFFERSON CITY — The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $214 million Tuesday to fund K-12 public school transportation up to the maximum 75% state threshold.

The move came as the committee began reviewing and making changes in the $46.5 billion state budget passed by the House. Legislators have until May 6 to pass a budget and send it to Gov. Mike Parson.

Last week, the Republican-controlled House voted not to fully fund school transportation, which was a point of contention with Democrats.

The Senate committee also allotted $31 million to provide state matching funds to local school districts to help recruit and retain teachers. The governor recommended about $21 million for the program; the House cut that money.

“The Senate position will be to add $10 million to the governor’s recommendation,” said Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield.

The committee also added a one-time payment of $4.9 million for MU’s retirement system. Hough said this was to balance out the aid among universities. Other colleges are part of the Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System, which is slated to receive an extra, one-time boost under the House-passed plan.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby, added $10 million for general support to community colleges, on top of the $8 million the governor and House proposed.

The committee also approved fully funding state scholarship programs, including Access Missouri, the A+ Program and the Bright Flight Scholarship.

Access Missouri is the state’s need-based scholarship program. The A+ Program is a scholarship geared mainly to students who attend community colleges and certain vocational and technical schools. Bright Flight goes to any student who scores in the top 3% of Missouri students on the ACT or SAT; those scholarships were cut from $3,000 apiece to $1,800 in 2020.

The Senate committee also took the governor’s position of allotting $7 million to dual credit scholarships, instead of the House’s recommended $0, after Sen. Barbara Anne Washington, D-Kansas City, and Sen. Lauren Arthur, D-Kansas City, voiced their support.

The program helps low-income high school students pay for college courses.

“Although this looks like a lot of money, it is only $7 million. This will actually save us money in the long run,” Washington said.

Several senators also added millions for programs such as the Homeless Student Impact Center, competency-based education and literacy programs.

The committee planned to keep working on the budget Tuesday evening. All the items still have to be approved by the full Senate, and any changes will be subject to negotiation with the House. The approved budget will go into effect on July 1.