Parson slashes $1 billion from Missouri budget, criticizes ‘unnecessary pet projects’
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Friday signed a roughly $50.5 billion budget for the next fiscal year but slashed more than 170 items approved by state lawmakers.
The budget Parson signed is about $1 billion less than the $51.7 billion spending plan lawmakers passed last month. Items that Parson vetoed included $5 million for a behavioral health center in North Kansas City and $6 million to keep Missouri National Guard troops at the southern border.
Parson’s overhaul of the plan, which takes effect on Monday, comes after one of the most chaotic budget processes in recent history as the Senate grappled with infighting among GOP senators. A roughly 41-hour filibuster from a group of hard-right senators delayed lawmakers from taking action on the budget until just before the May deadline.
The lengthy hold-up required the budget chairs in the House and Senate to negotiate the plan behind closed doors, a process that faced sharp criticism from lawmakers of both parties.
Parson, in a statement on Friday, was critical of some of the items lawmakers had inserted into the budget, saying he vetoed them to “avoid future budgetary pains tomorrow.”
“The use of the veto pen is not something I do eagerly, but today these vetoes represent the elimination of unnecessary pet projects and the protection of the taxpayer dime,” he said.
The Republican governor touted several major infrastructure projects included in the budget, including $1.5 billion to expand broadband in the state and $577.5 million to help expand Interstate-44 from St. Louis to Joplin.
However, Parson vetoed an additional $150 million for the I-44 expansion that lawmakers had approved.
The Republican governor also reduced, or completely slashed, several items related to the Kansas City area. He cut $5 million from the $15 million that lawmakers had approved to build a behavioral health facility on the campus of North Kansas City Hospital.
He also slashed $150,000 intended to repair an educational STEM facility in Kansas City and $15 million of the $30 million lawmakers passed for building a massive park above I-670. However, Parson, in his veto message, said there was still $28.7 million included elsewhere in the budget for the project.
The budget signed by Parson also includes divisive amendments to every spending bill requiring cities that welcome undocumented immigrants to pay back all state funds. However, Missouri law already bans cities from welcoming undocumented immigrants.
While the proposal is targeted at Kansas City, Mayor Quinton Lucas has said he has no plans to make the city a sanctuary city for illegal immigration. The controversial language comes as Republicans repeatedly distort comments Lucas made welcoming migrant workers.
Rep. Deb Lavender, a Manchester Democrat, sharply criticized the budget on Friday, railing against the fact that it leaves roughly $1.9 billion on the bottom line.
Lavender specifically criticized Parson for vetoing $2.5 million for people who investigate complaints of abuse and neglect in nursing homes, calling it “catastrophic.”
“We have cut funding for mental health care coverage, for centers who serve people living with disabilities, to assure competent care for our seniors, and our social services budgets,” she said. “Fiscal year 2025’s budget is shameful, and the repercussions will be felt by the people of our state for years to come.”
