Facing cuts to senior programs, Missouri Senate puts budget pressure on House

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)

May 10--JEFFERSON CITY -- Members of the Missouri Senate tried to ratchet up the pressure on their House counterparts Tuesday night, rejecting a bid to compromise on a budget impasse that could affect thousands of elderly renters, nursing home residents and in-home care recipients.

In a procedural move aimed at forcing the House to accept their changes to a budget plan designed to spare nearly 8,000 elderly and disabled residents from losing their state-paid health insurance, the Republican-controlled Senate challenged the House to accept their plan or kill it in the waning days of the Legislature's session.

The House is expected to react to the maneuver on Wednesday when the 163-member chamber reconvenes with just three days left before Friday's 6 p.m. end-of-session deadline.

House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick, R- Shell Knob, signaled he was not backing down.

"There's no scenario that I'm going to pass that bill," he told the Post-Dispatch.

At issue is an agreement struck in the Senate last week that would spare cuts to low-income elderly and disabled residents who would be affected by a tightening of eligibility rules for certain Medicaid services, such as nursing home and in-home care programs.

The legislation also would keep intact a tax credit affecting another 100,000 elderly renters, which was floated as a way to avert cuts proposed in February by Republican Gov. Eric Greitens. It also would reduce cuts to reimbursement rates for nursing homes and in-home care providers across the Show-Me State.

The bipartisan agreement would raid a number of special state funds for an estimated $35 million to fill a gap that opponents said would hurt the state's most vulnerable population.

Fitzpatrick argued that there are constitutional problems with the Senate version that could torpedo the measure if challenged in court.

Fitzpatrick believes the plan to use excess money in a number of special state accounts to help avert cuts needs additional work before it could be put in place. In addition, he said the money used for the bailout would only be in place for one fiscal year, leaving lawmakers to have to find a solution to fill the shortfall again next year.

And, he added, the move would would go against an agreement he made earlier this year to keep a $100 million cushion in the budget in case revenues fell short of estimates.

The House could either accept the Senate's proposed changes or reject them.

The chamber also could work in the session's final 72 hours to find a middle ground. If no resolution is found, the state's $27.8 billion spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1 would remain on track, but seniors and the disabled would face cuts to services.

Greitens, a political newcomer navigating his first budget as chief executive, has not publicly weighed in on the Senate plan.

The legislation is House Committee Bill 3.

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