Senator Mike Henderson’s Capitol Report for May 18, 2026
JEFFERSON CITY – As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I spent a great deal of time this session working closely with my colleagues to shape Missouri’s spending plan and make sure taxpayer dollars were allocated responsibly. I’m proud of the work we accomplished together and was honored to serve on the committee.
This year, we had to make some tough decisions about how best to use the resources we have. With temporary, one-time federal ARPA funds ending, we’re working within a tighter budget than in recent years. That means we had to be especially careful and intentional with every dollar, prioritizing what matters most to Missouri families.
The Missouri General Assembly approved a state operating budget for fiscal year 2027 totaling $48.7 billion. That’s about $4.1 billion less than this year. Just ten years ago in 2017, the state budget was $27.3 billion. That kind of growth makes it even more important to be responsible and disciplined with how we spend state funds.
Even with a tighter overall budget, we still made significant investments in the priorities that matter most, especially education, children and Missouri’s most vulnerable populations.
Education is still at the top of the list. This budget includes more than $100 million in actual funding for K-12 education, bringing the total increase over the past three years to more than $600 million. In fact, this year’s budget matches the highest level of K-12 funding in state history.
Overall, the budget includes $8.43 billion for elementary and secondary education and $1.4 billion for higher education, including $181.4 million for community colleges. Within that funding, we continue strong support for public schools, with more than $4.28 billion going directly to local districts and $376 million dedicated to school transportation.
We also maintained and expanded several targeted investments, including $303 million to help low-income families access child care assistance, $52.55 million for the Career Ladder program that rewards educators for additional responsibilities and professional development, $1 million in school safety initiatives and $1.9 million for real-time school safety communication software for first responders. We also included $4 million to test school wastewater for fentanyl as part of broader efforts to help prevent drug use and keep students safe.
In higher education, the final budget returned to the original funding formula, providing stability and predictability for both two-year and four-year institutions across the state.
We also worked to protect some of our most vulnerable Missourians. The budget restores $79.19 million in funding for disability services, preventing cuts to Self-Directed Services and Day Habilitation rates and maintaining funding at FY 26 levels.
We prohibited the use of state higher education funds for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs and added new Fraud, Waste and Abuse staff to strengthen oversight and protect the integrity of Missouri’s Medicaid system.
We secured a little over $15 million for Pregnancy Resource Centers around the state. These centers do important work helping women and families who may be facing an unplanned or crisis pregnancy and want information, support and alternatives to abortion.
Language was included to make sure state funds won’t be used by the Department of Corrections for cross-sex hormones or surgeries related to gender transition.
And finally, we added dedicated staff to help crack down on fraud, waste and abuse in state programs like Medicaid. The goal is pretty simple: make sure taxpayer dollars are being used the right way and going to the people who truly need help.
Stay in Touch
Thank you for staying connected and for all your support. Please continue to contact my office at 573-751-4008 with your concerns, questions and comments. To view my sponsored legislation, please visit senate.mo.gov/Henderson.