With only one more week remaining, this Capitol report will be brief and the final one written during the 2016 regular legislative session. All legislative actions must be completed by 6 p.m. Friday. This hard deadline demonstrates the wisdom of the constitution's authors because it forces the Legislature to compromise and prioritize. In the coming weeks, I will provide more detailed reports on legislation that passed, or failed to pass, and their impacts on the 6th Senate district.
Last week the Legislature voted to override the governor's veto of Senate Bill 586. Senate Bill 586 corrects a massive hole in the state's K-12 Foundation Formula and makes fully funding the formula both realistic and probable without taking a dime from any district or classroom. This bill originally passed the Senate with a unanimous, 32-0 vote, and the Senate overrode the veto on the same day the governor took action. The House quickly followed the next day. SB586 is now law and the future of Missouri's K-12 foundation formula is better as a result.
In 2009 Missouri removed casino loss limits, which was predicted to result in a massive influx of new cash into the Foundation Formula. In anticipation of this flood of cash, a cap was removed in the formula which would allow it to grow in line with the predicted increase in gambling revenues.
In reality, removing loss limits did absolutely nothing for the gaming industry and resulted in no increase in gaming money for the Foundation Formula. However, since a cap was removed from the formula in anticipation of increased revenues, the dollars required to fully fund the formula continued to increase, causing the delta between actual and needed funding to increase every year since that time.
By overriding the governor's veto of SB586, the Legislature reinstalls the formula caps that were lifted in 2009, thus making it more realistic to keep the current Foundation Formula and to fully fund it. SB586 does not take money from education, because it deals with fictional dollars that were supposed to have materialized but never did.
On Friday, the Legislature finished work on an important agriculture bill. Sen. Mike Parson and stakeholders from a variety of agricultural sectors worked throughout the session to shepherd SB665 across the finish line. Among the many benefits of this bill are incentives to keep Missouri products in Missouri from inception to consumption. Most Missourians, if given the opportunity, would prefer to buy and consume products, whether vegetable or meat, that are Missouri-made from cradle to grave. I am grateful to Sen. Parson for leading efforts to protect and grow the state's No. 1 industry.
The Senate also finished work on the Fiscal Year 2017 budget by passing the capital improvements portion of the budget. I was very pleased to see Lincoln University secure funding in the capital improvements budget to continue to grow their already robust nursing program. Additionally, with funding provided in the capital improvement bill, State Technical College of Missouri will be able to continue its expansion plans to better serve, prepare and train more and more Missourians from all across the state.
My purpose and my intent is to serve the constituents of the 6th Senatorial District. If you are in the State Capitol during the coming weeks and months, please stop by your office in Room 321.
State Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, represents the 6th District.