Missouri Gov. Mike Parson's State of the State address pleased some Senate Republicans, but some Senate Democrats said the governor did not go far enough in addressing specific issues.
President Pro Tem Sen. Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, thought Parson's speech was "pretty safe and very focused and realistic."
Schatz said he was particularly excited Parson wants to continue the state's $50 million cost-share program for transportation infrastructure development.
The program provides financial assistance to public and private applicants for public road and bridge projects, and matches up to 50 percent of the construction contract costs for selected projects.
"I think that's a phenomenal program. We've had great success there," Schatz said.
However, he added, "It comes from general revenue, which is something that I'm not a huge fan of."
"I don't want to get (into) the habit of going into the general revenue well in order to address these issues. We need to be doing that, I believe, in the form of a user fee, and the motor fuel tax is the best way to do that because it encompasses all the travelers across our state, not just Missouri citizens," he said.
"I'd like to see us address that in the future, and obviously - it's an election year - it may be very difficult to have that conversation. But I'm hopeful in the future that we address that, that we're not going to the general revenue in order to try to address transportation infrastructure needs," he added.
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"I'm just excited about the direction the state is going in under his leadership," Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, said after Parson's speech.
Bernskoetter said he was in particular pleased to hear Parson talk about his plans for using Wayfair collections - income from an online sales tax Missouri could be receiving, if or when it changes its law.
Parson said he wants to use Wayfair collections to help a proposed cash operating expense fund - basically, a rainy day fund in case of economic crisis - reach solvency.
After that, the remaining portion would be used to pay off debt obligations and fund infrastructure programs done on a cost-share basis.
"We've had some proposals where they take the tax money from Wayfair and get a tax decrease somewhere else, which sounds nice, but I think we need to pay for some of those things that state government needs and uses. I'm glad to see he recommends putting it in a fund and paying down the debt," Bernskoetter said.
Some Senate Democrats were not as pleased by Parson's speech.
Minority Leader Sen. Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors, said in a statement after the address, "This was a disappointing and, frankly, troubling speech. More than 100,000 kids have had their health care taken away by Gov. Parson's administration, and today, he continued to ignore this crisis. Meanwhile, his party continues to stand in the way of common sense changes to prevent gun violence, address the opioid epidemic and make college more affordable. The biggest issues facing Missouri were essentially ignored by Gov. Parson today, and that is incredibly unfortunate for middle class families."
"Under Gov. Parson and his Republican-led Legislature, Missouri is number one in the nation for kicking children off Medicaid. That is a dangerous and embarrassing statistic. In his State of the State address today, the governor failed to address this issue, which shows a lack of leadership on the important issue of health care," Sen. Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, added in the statement from the Missouri Democratic Caucus.
Parson in his speech praised MO HealthNet Director Todd Richardson for improved efficiency in Missouri's Medicaid program, to the tune of $84 million in savings.
Richardson told reporters before the speech there was not a single factor behind the decline of children enrolled in Medicaid. He said one reason is a good economy that's led to a decline in the number of applications for public assistance.
Parson in his speech did not approve of expanding Medicaid.
State Auditor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nicole Galloway also in a statement from her campaign called upon Parson to restore health insurance coverage to children she said were purged from the Children's Health Insurance Program.