Lincoln Hough

The Federal Reimbursement Allowance, which is a tax on hospitals, ambulance districts, nursing homes and pharmacies, is set to expire at the end of September. The Senate gave it initial approval early Thursday morning after more than 40 hours of filibustering by the Missouri Freedom Caucus.

The Missouri Freedom Caucus, a faction of the state GOP, has vowed to debate the budget in detail and attempt to cut hundreds of millions in spending. That could push final votes on spending past the constitutional deadline of May 10.

The Senate begins work Tuesday on Missouri’s roughly $50 billion state budget, with questions still swirling around renewing a tax that funds Medicaid and a GOP infighting that could derail the process.

The passage of the supplemental budget bill is the first piece of legislation passed by both chambers in the 2024 Missouri legislative session.

After weeks of flirting with the idea, Missouri State Sen. Lincoln Hough of Springfield jumped into the Republican Primary for lieutenant governor on Thursday.

As amendments aimed at legalizing abortion in cases of rape or incest were voted down, one Republican state senator defended the decision saying, ‘God does not make mistakes.’

Despite the Missouri House voting to overturn multiple budget vetoes, the Senate did not take any further action, leaving those vetoes intact.

The Senate’s plan to go beyond the $860 million initially proposed to expand Interstate 70 remained in the budget agreed to by a Senate-House conference committee Wednesday night. Other Senate positions that remained were state funding for public libraries and the elimination of anti-DEI language in the budget.

The Senate’s proposed budget is $4.2 billion more than what the House passed weeks ago. Like in the House, most of the debate in the Senate was spent over an amendment that would have inserted language against diversity, equity and inclusion.

Senate Appropriations Chair Lincoln Hough said after speaking with departments, businesses and vendors, he recommended removing the anti-diversity, equity and inclusion language. The committee still must pass the budget bills before they can make it to the Senate floor.