The House-passed budget includes an increase in state government's contribution - as the employer - for the costs of the Missouri State Employees Retirement System, or MOSERS.
But the House didn't put as much into the MOSERS system as its board members and administrators said late last year will be needed.
And that concerns John Watson, MOSERS' director.
"For the first time in anybody's basic memory, we have one body of the General Assembly that did not fully fund the financial dollars that the board certified," he noted.
"I think that troubles a lot of people, because that's how every state that gets into problems with their pension system starts - 'We'll just not fund it this one year, and then we'll catch back up,' or 'We have a plan to fund it differently.'"
MOSERS is supervised by a board that includes the state treasurer and commissioner of administration, lawmakers, representatives of those who receive benefits and members appointed by the governor.
Watson added the board late last year "certified the contribution rate, which translates into the dollar request that Gov. Greitens put into his budget."
The House-passed budget isn't the final word, since the Senate still must debate and pass its version - with the final budget for the 2017-18 business year that's sent to the governor being a compromise between the two houses.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Dan Brown, R-Rolla, told the News Tribune: "I plan to fully fund MOSERS, to bring that up to par.
"If we get behind, then it makes it almost impossible to catch up."
When he was a member of the state Highways and Transportation Commission before becoming a lawmaker, Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, sat on the MPERS board, which serves the Highway Patrol and Transportation department employees.
"I think you always have to keep an eye on any pension plan, whether it's a state-run one or a private one that you're in through your work place," he said. "Those board members are keeping us up to date on what the funded status is and what the actuarials say.
"So, I think it's important to make sure we keep the proper funding going to the retirement systems."
But funding issues aren't the only news item concerning MOSERS' members.
On March 31, State Treasurer Eric Schmitt issued a news release about the board's decision to seek legislative approval for an advanced benefits reform package.
"Missouri's troubled pension system is the single greatest threat to (the state's) perfect AAA credit rating," Schmitt said. "That's why (in February) I called on stakeholders to stop kicking the can down the road and start working together to come up with long-term solutions to fix the problem of our insolvent public retirement system before it's too late."
The board is asking lawmakers for the authority to offer voluntary advances on benefits packages to eligible employees who no longer are working in state government.
"Once enacted, it could potentially save the state of Missouri $7 million every year and significantly reduce the fiscal burden of our pension system," Schmitt said. "I urge members of both parties in the Legislature to come together on this issue and grant approval for this much-needed reform.
"Now is the time to start taking our pension troubles seriously. If we don't, it will mean less resources for our schools, roads and health services down the line."
Watson said Schmitt raises important issues.
"The treasurer can speak for himself," Watson said. "The one thing is clear is that he does not support anything that, by not funding the required contribution to the pension system, would put our credit rating at issue and put the long-term health of the system at issue."
Although the dollar amount is higher than in previous years, he noted, MOSERS' "proportion of the state budget (has) been the same for 20 years."
And the biggest concern for MOSERS - and pension plans throughout the country - is the "low-rate, low-return environment that we're going to have to deal with," Watson explained. "We look at our long-term plan for MOSERS and state employees' pensions; we're still on solid footing."
He said the proposal to allow a cash-out for people with money in the retirement system, but who no longer work for the state government, is a common practice for pension systems.
"The most important thing is it's at the employee's option," he said. And it only would affect around 19,000 of the system's 115,000 members.
"People shouldn't be overly excited" about the discussions of changes like those Schmitt mentioned in his news release, Watson said.
"This current board and the previous board (have been) committed to making realistic assumptions" about MOSERS' financial condition and its future, he said.
Editor's note: MOSERS' John Watson and News Tribune reporter Bob Watson are not related.