The purpose of MDN's budget tables is to provide an accurate comparison of the budget proposed or passed for the selected current fiscal year with budgets enacted for fiscal years going back to FY 1996.
That approach requires several adjustments.
The appropriation figures are what the legislature actually approved in the prior year and do not include subsequent reductions from budget withholdings or vetoes listed in the governor's budget.
To assure accurate comparisons with the governor's recommendations versus the prior year's appropriation, MDN uses for the prior year the actual appropriations approved by legislature without adjusting based on any gubernatorial line-item vetoes, withholdings or spending restrictions.
The reason is to assure our tables compare "apples to apples", not "apples to oranges." What the legislature passes always is subject after the governor signs the bill to withholdings, now called "restrictions" by the administration.
In fact, in some years, governors signed bloated budgets when it was obvious there would need to be subsequent withholdings of spending authority.
The budget tables cover only the operating budgets. Excluded are supplemental and capital improvement figures.
The problem with supplemental appropriations for the remaining few months of the current fiscal year is that neither the legislative budget nor the governor's budget itemize the amounts provided to specific agencies.
Beyond that, a supplement approriation does NOT cover the budget year before the legislature, but the prior fiscal year. That confuses comparisons between the two budget years.
For major building construction and improvement projects, the capital improvements budgets include figures for the total number of years that a project is expected to require funding.
Thus, a large portion of the capital improvements budget involves funds that will not be spent in the first fiscal year. Instead, for future years, there are "reappropriation" bills to reappropriate the unspent funds for capital improvement projects.
Updating the budget table, I've thought maybe there should be a seperate table for capital improvement budgets.
The table does include a separate line for the billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 economic recovery funds the $3.38 billion of federal funds from "American Rescue Plan Act.
Unfortunately, neither the legislature's budget bills nor the governor's budget indicates which departments ultimately would get those funds. Another question is whether that unspent federal money simply is a transfer to agency budgets that show up in the detailed budgets.
The National Guard is a new department. Previously, appropriations to the National Guard was included in the Public Safety Department. So, to see the actual change for the Public Safety Department between the two fiscal years, add the National Guard funding to the FY 2023 figure for the Public Safety Department.
The All Funds table includes state taxes, federal funds, gambling revenue, ear-marked taxes and fees.
The General Revenue table covers only those state funds which the legislature is free to appropriate as it wishes. Some agencies (such as the departments of Transportation, Conservation and Insurance) receive little or no General Revenue. These agencies are funded totally or almost totally from state ear-marked taxes and fees.
However, FY2024 is an exemption because the governor recommended and the House approved a nearly $1 million appropriation of General Revenue to finance Interestate highway improvements and expansion.
For Higher Education, the total funds revenue figure does not include outside funds the universities raise from fees, federal funds, tuition, etc.
Employee Benefits cover health insurance, retirement and unemployment compensation benefits for some, but not all employees. Some agencies have separate compensation plans for their workers that are not covered by a statewide benefit program.
The Revenue Department budget does not include more than $1 billion that is appropriated for tax refunds. The administration and legislative staff decided decided many years ago to not count those funds as appropriations since those funds involve taxes initially collected, but that will be returned to taxpayers.
Federal COVID-19 and American Rescue Plan $3.3 billion listed in the governor's budget raises a complicated question. Also called the CARES fund, it's a federal program for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security.
Much of that money was not spent in prior years. It's unclear how that money is allocated to various departments nor how much of that money
The FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025 budgets contain billions of dollars from these federal funds making budget comparisons with earlier years extremely misleading.
In some cases, these federal funds have been used to fund costs normally covered by General Revenue. Much of the money gets tranferred to various state funds, obscuring how this federal largess is being used.
It is not deliberate deception. There is a deadline for the state to allocate those funds. Essentialy, the federal government's approach simpy does not recognize the budgeting processes and deadlines of the states.
The Transportation Budget presents a complication. The budget totals at the bottom of HB 5 indicate the Transportation Department would get a few billion dollars less that the separate sections of the bill appropriate to the department.
The likely reason the $4.8 billion in General Revenue and bonds for expanding Interstate 70 to three lanes in both directions between St. Louis and Kansas City. That is a far higher amount than could be spent in a single year for such a huge project.
The budget table does not include $2 billion of federal economic recovery funds nor American Rescue Plan money that will get appropriated to various state programs
Unfortunately, neither the legislature's budget bills nor the governor's budget provide a breakout of which departments ultimately would get those funds. Another question is whether that unspent federal money simply is a transfer to agency budgets that show up in the detailed budgets.
The National Guard is a new department. Previously, appropriations to the National Guard was included in the Public Safety Department
Missouri Digital News is produced by Missouri Digital News, Inc. -- a non profit organization of current and former journalists.
You can contact MDN at mdnmail@mdn.org.
|