Missouri lawmakers expect Kehoe to target budget earmarks

By Jason Hancock | Editor-in-Chief

Good morning,

Gov. Mike Kehoe has until Tuesday to decide how much of Missouri’s $50.7 billion budget he is willing to leave intact.

State spending is outpacing revenue, the once-large surplus is shrinking fast and lawmakers are already expecting the governor to use vetoes or spending restrictions to look for savings.

All that puts Missouri’s 132 budget earmarks in a familiar but uncomfortable position. Local projects are often the easiest place for a governor to show restraint, and the hardest place for lawmakers to defend once the details get public.

Rudi Keller looks at what is waiting on Kehoe’s desk — and why some projects may draw more attention than others.

by Rudi Keller

With Missouri’s surplus nearly spent and revenue falling, lawmakers expect Gov. Mike Kehoe to look hard at $304 million in earmarks before Tuesday’s budget deadline — including projects already raising questions.

by Meg Cunningham

A Columbia survey found many people experiencing homelessness are over 50 and unhoused for the first time, pointing to how rent, illness and transportation can unravel stability quickly.

by Jason Hancock

The tax break a pro-Amendment 5 ad blames on Missouri’s “1917 tax code” was actually born in 2015, when lawmakers passed Senate Bill 149. Among the Republicans who backed it: Mike Kehoe.

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