According to the Missouri Constitution, the Missouri General Assembly has only one job, which is to craft the state’s operating budget each year.

The budget always starts in the Missouri House of Representatives. Their Budget Committee hears from not only department directors within state government, but from the general public. From there, the entire Missouri House discusses each of the 13 individual bills that make up the state budget. Amendments may be added to these measures in the House.

Once the Missouri House of Representatives finalizes its version of the budget, it then comes to the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee, on which I serve. After more analysis, our committee sends the budget to the full Missouri Senate for consideration. As a long-standing tradition and courtesy, it is rare the upper chamber adds amendments to the budget on the floor of the Missouri Senate, but it does happen on occasion. After we finish our version of the budget, a Senate-House conference committee will hammer out differences, and then the budget bills will make a final trip through each chamber.

The governor then has until June 30 to sign each of the budget bills, and/or veto those individual line items he believes are unnecessary. In addition, the governor has the ability to withhold specific appropriations until the state has the funding for that specific item. Missouri law dictates we have a balanced budget, something we take very seriously. Missouri’s fiscal year starts on July 1.

I will keep you up-to-date on the budget in the weeks to come.

I am honored to serve as your senator in the Missouri Senate. If, at any time, you have questions, concerns or ideas regarding state government, please feel free to contact me at (573) 751-8793 or Sandy.Crawford@senate.mo.gov.

Missouri County Collector Association Day at the Capitol Dallas County Collector Sheryl Ferrell, Sen. Crawford and Deputy Collector Amy Faulkner