Week of Feb. 14, 2022

Senate Panel Restores Governor’s Pay Plan to Spending Bill

On Feb. 16, the Senate Appropriations Committee restored funding for a $15-an-hour state worker base wage that the governor requested be included in a nearly $4.6 billion supplemental budget known as House Bill 3014. The governor’s minimum wage request previously received opposition in the Missouri House, where it was cut to $12 an hour for workers in all but four state agencies that have roles in directly caring for people.

In addition to setting a state worker base pay, HB 3014 would also distribute billions of dollars in federal pandemic relief funds to local public school districts, provide a 5.5% pay raise to all state workers and fully fund Missouri’s Medicaid program for the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends June 1. House Bill 3014 now heads to the full Senate for further consideration. If the Senate approves the bill, the two chambers will have to negotiate on the differences before granting it final passage.

Filing To Start Without State Senate, Congressional Districts Yet Finalized

Candidate filing for the August primary elections is set to open Feb. 22, even though new congressional and state Senate districts that reflect population shifts under the 2020 U.S. Census haven’t yet been finalized. The filing period will run through March 29.

Lawmakers had hoped to have passed a bill redrawing Missouri’s eight congressional districts by now, but the process has stalled...

Read Full Story: https://www.senate.mo.gov/sen-barbara-anne-washingtons-legislative-column-for...