Governor releases vital funding

Citizens of the 125th District,

I enthusiastically participated with other House members this week in showing our support for the FFA organization, in which last week was national FFA week, and the Missouri state officer team was here in the Capitol. This is an awesome organization that prepares kids in so many ways for upcoming life experiences! That is my FFA jacket from 1983, and yes I could get it on, now getting it zipped up was another subject.

House moves to forgive unemployment overpayments (HBs 1083, 1085, 1050, 1035, 1036, 873 & 1097)

Thousands of Missourians who received unemployment overpayments would have the federal portion of their debt forgiven under legislation approved this week by the House. The bill would ensure Missourians who received the overpayments non-fraudulently do not have to repay the federal dollars they received.

Because the state’s Department of Labor was inundated with requests for unemployment benefits during the pandemic and was rushing to get payments processed, the department sent out approximately $146 million in unemployment benefits to 46,000 Missourians who didn’t qualify. Those who received the aid went on to spend it on rent, mortgage payments, utilities and other necessities. Months later the state sent notice to these individuals that the aid they received had to be repaid. The average repayment amount was in the thousands of dollars.

“The financial assistance that recipients thought was a lifeline of survival has now become an anchor of debt,” said the bill’s sponsor. He added, “The legislature did not create this mess, but we can help clean it up.”

The bill’s sponsor said approximately 75 percent of the $146 million in overpayments is federal, and repayment on those funds will be forgiven. The bill now moves to the Senate for debate.

HB 357 allows cottage food production operations to sell food over the Internet. Currently, cottage food production operations must have an annual gross income of $50,000 or less and are prohibited from selling food through the Internet. This bill removes the cap on annual gross income and the prohibition on online sales, provided that the cottage food production operation and purchaser are both located in Missouri.

Governor releases vital funding

Because Missouri continues to outpace its projected revenue growth, Gov. Mike Parson recently released nearly $281 million in general revenue restrictions. The released funds will go to a number of state departments including Elementary and Secondary Education, Agriculture, Health and Senior Services, and Social Services.

Parson had previously restricted approximately $438 million in funding due to the financial impact of COVID-19. By restricting funds, the governor was working to ensure a balanced budget and to ensure funding was available to combat the virus.

The healthy growth in Missouri’s economy prompted the governor to release $38 million in general revenue in October 2020 and then another $119 million in January of this year. With the release of the $281 million the governor has now released all of the funding that was originally restricted.

Parson said, “Thanks to our balanced approach to COVID-19, Missouri is in a much better position than what was originally projected. Our economy continues to come back strong, and we’re pleased to be able to release the remainder of these funds today.”