Missouri Gov. Parson wants $859M to expand I-70. Here are his other budget priorities
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson wants to spend $859 million to expand I-70 from two lanes to three in the Kansas City metro and other urban areas of the state, part of a budget focused on infrastructure and workforce development amid a massive revenue surplus.
In Kansas City, the governor is looking to expand a 20-mile stretch of the highway from Blue Springs to Odessa in Lafayette County in an effort to curtail congestion.
Missouri’s total operating budget under the Republican governor’s overall proposal would be $50.5 billion, up from $49.8 billion this year. The budget comes as state officials anticipate tax collections will continue to grow over the next two years.
The state currently has a $6 billion budget surplus due to increasing tax revenue and unspent federal aid. For the past two years, the massive surplus has placed Parson in the unusual position of a GOP governor of proposing significant new spending.
“The governor just kind of stuck to his guns on stuff that he’s really focused on since he got in — workforce development infrastructure,” Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican, told The Star after the speech. “He’s just been beating that drum.”
Parson’s budget plan, released Wednesday alongside the governor’s annual State of the State address, will go to the Missouri General Assembly for debate. Lawmakers will ultimately pass a state budget, though Parson can line-item veto individual spending items.
Here are three key highlights from Parson’s budget proposal:
Interstate 70
Parson’s budget calls for increasing the capacity of the key east-west highway that stretches from Kansas City to St. Louis in Missouri. The governor also wants to add an additional $379 million for other highway and transit projects.
The $859 million for I-70 comes from state, not federal, funds. The state will tap into its expansive budget surplus for the project, the governor’s office told reporters.
While lawmakers from both parties cheered Parson’s I-70 plan when he unveiled it Wednesday evening, some say they’d like to see federal funds used. Rowden said with U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Missouri, becoming chairman of the powerful U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Missouri, taking over the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Missouri should have more of a say in asking for federal dollars.
“I certainly would hope that we would be able to try to take advantage of that and maybe make some asks for some grants and other things,” he said.
While the state plans to eventually expand more parts of the highway, the governor is initially targeting about 20 miles of highway near the suburban areas of Kansas City, 20 miles near suburban St. Louis and 13 miles near suburban Columbia — the spots with the most travelers.
House Majority Leader Jonathan Patterson, a Lee’s Summit Republican, said the state would likely take a “piecemeal approach” to fix the areas near Kansas City, St. Louis and Columbia and then tackle other parts of the highway in the future.
“As someone who travels I-70 every week, I welcomed the governor’s investment in improving safety and congestion,” he said.
However, Parson’s plan comes amid an argument nationwide that expanding roads and building additional infrastructure does not reduce congestion.
Pay raises
Parson wants an 8.7% pay raise for state workers amid high inflation. The governor has touted the $152 million plan as necessary to fill the more than 7,000 open positions in state government.
The governor’s proposed plan would also provide a $2 per hour shift differential for certain employees who work in congregate care facilities on overnight shifts.
At the same time, Parson is proposing to eliminate dozens of vacant positions across state government. The governor’s office told reporters that the eliminated positions would not result in layoffs.
Parson has called on lawmakers to introduce the pay raise legislation as soon as possible in the hopes of implementing his plan by March 1.
State lawmakers have previously highlighted the recruitment and retention of state employees as a severe problem. While some Democrats have supported Parson’s plan, House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat, said it doesn’t go far enough.
“A couple of years of modest improvement simply isn’t enough to overcome decades of shortchanging state workers with annual raises that ranged from miniscule to the non-existent,” she said in a statement earlier this month.
Railroad Crossings
The Republican governor is asking for $35 million to fund a program dedicated to railroad crossing safety improvements. The request follows an Amtrak crash near Mendon last year that resulted in four deaths and injured roughly 150 people and a Star investigation into the lax safety at many rural crossings.
The governor’s office acknowledged Wednesday that the Amtrak crash was a major reason for the program. As part of the program, the state will partner with local communities and railroad companies to identify crossings that need improvement.
The Star investigation found that the crash near Mendon was not unique. There are hundreds of unprotected crossings across the country that have been put on lists for safety improvements.
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 3:10 PM.
