Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, spent his eighth and final State of the State address Wednesday highlighting his accomplishments while in office and calling for increased education and mental health spending.
When he took office in 2009, the economy was in shambles: Unemployment was high, business creation was low and the auto industry was "on life support," Nixon said Wednesday.
But that has changed, he said, and his $27.3 billion operating budget proposal for the 2017 budget year that begins July 1 will continue to move the state forward.
Nixon's proposal would increase the Foundation Formula, which funds K-12 public schools, by $85 million. Though that would leave it $425 million short of being fully funded, Brent Ghan with the Missouri School Boards' Association said the organization was "pleased" with Nixon's proposed increase "given the budget constraints facing the state."
Nixon's budget also would dump an additional $55.6 million into public higher education institutions based on performance funding. This increase would allow those institutions to freeze tuition -- the fourth time since Nixon took office.
One of Nixon's goals when he became governor "was to make college better and more affordable, because education is the key to our future," he said. "Today, Missouri is No. 1 in the country for keeping a lid on tuition increases, and under my budget we'll stay No. 1 this year."
His proposal also includes $13.9 million more to keep the waiting list for in-home Medicaid services for developmentally disabled people at zero.
"When I took office, Missourians with developmental disabilities had to wait years for in-home Medicaid services," Nixon said. "Under my budget, it will stay at zero."
The budget also would include $54.1 million for a 2 percent pay raise for state employees starting July 1, but would decrease the state workforce by 48 jobs. That workforce reduction would bring the total number of positions cut while Nixon was governor to more than 5,000, which he said was "about the size of my hometown of De Soto, or all of Putnam County."
House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, said he was pleased the governor was following the lead of the House, which had suggested worker raises last year.
"I'm happy to see he heeded that call," Richardson said.
But Nixon's ability to accomplish these goals is questionable at best given that lawmakers have to approve the budget before any of his ideas can go into effect. Lawmakers have until May 6 to agree on a budget.
Republicans have a tight grip on the Legislature, wielding solid veto-proof majorities -- they control 117 seats in the House and 24 in the Senate.
Dave Robertson, political science department chairman at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said the composition of the Legislature would make it very difficult for Nixon to accomplish anything, especially because of the approaching elections.
Lawmakers "will be inclined not to provide him with policy successes he can claim," Robertson said.
Nixon also hasn't cultivated many friendships in his eight years as governor, with legislators lambasting him for failing to communicate with them.
Rep. Paul Curtman, R-Union, noted that problem Wednesday on Twitter: "Tonight marks the annual event where (Nixon) allows the (Legislature) to see him before disappearing for another year."
Nixon based his budget proposal for next year on projections that state general revenue will grow 4.1 percent, or $9.3 billion, in the coming budget year. His office anticipates that revenue will grow 2.8 percent, or $8.9 billion, in the current year. Legislative budget leaders have not released their projections.
State Budget Director Dan Haug said Wednesday that Nixon and legislative budget leaders basically agreed on the revenue growth rates but that "there is still some discussion over what the process would be if those numbers needed to be revised at some point."
General revenue comes mainly from state income and sales taxes and is the main pot of money that legislators control. The rest of the budget comes from federal and earmarked funds.
In his speech Wednesday, Nixon urged lawmakers to pass comprehensive ethics reform, saying the state "has got to clean up its act."
Missouri is the only state with no campaign contribution limits, no lobbyist gift limits and no laws governing when a lawmaker can become a lobbyist.
After a year of scandal that led to the resignations of two lawmakers because of inappropriate dealings with interns, Republicans leaders have been moving at break-neck speed to pass an ethics reform package. The House already has approved several ethics bills and sent them to the Senate.
Missourians "know that if a lobbyist showers you with gifts, or takes you to the country club for cocktails and the surf-and-turf, he's going to lean on you before dessert," Nixon said. "They know it's wrong for legislators to launder campaign contributions by paying each other for political advice."
Campaign contribution limits, however, are unlikely to be part of the discussion.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, said the Senate and the House had taken steps to address the Capitol culture by acting on legislation to rein in lawmakers and lobbyists.
"We are moving things forward," Kehoe said.
Nixon's speech also highlighted a need to fix Missouri's transportation budget woes. Because of funding shortfalls, the state Department of Transportation has outlined ways it would need to pare back on construction and maintenance.
Nixon and numerous lawmakers have suggested increasing the state's 17-cents-per-gallon gas tax, in place since 1996. Richardson, however, is not optimistic such a measure will make it through the Legislature and has said the House will try to find other revenue streams in the budget.
"I've been clear about my position: If you use the roads, you should help pay for them," Nixon said. "What I don't support is taking money that should go to schools, law enforcement and mental health, and using it to patch potholes."
Senate Minority Leader Joe Keaveny, D-St. Louis, said many of his constituents wouldn't mind paying more for gas if it meant better roads and bridges -- especially with current low gas prices.
"If they have good roads and good bridges, they're willing to pay for that," he said. "I think we need to send that message throughout the state."
Nixon also called for Medicaid expansion, saying that "inaction has real consequences."
"It's time to stop playing politics with people's lives," Nixon said. "Do the right thing and give them access to health care."
Under the Affordable Care Act, Congress offered states federal money to add working-age adults who make up to 138 percent of the poverty level, which is about $16,200 for a single person, to Medicaid rolls.
Nixon's administration estimates that 300,000 Missourians could gain coverage under the expansion. The federal government would pick up the full tab for the new participants through 2016, when the federal share gradually would begin dropping to 90 percent. Some form of expansion has been adopted in about 30 states.
But Republican leaders have said for years that expansion is a nonstarter in Missouri.
Nixon is still withholding $46.1 million of general revenue he slashed in October from the current year's budget. The cuts were necessary, he said, because the state did not receive $50 million in tobacco settlement funds lawmakers had banked on in the budget.
Richardson has said lawmakers could exercise a new constitutional power by overriding Nixon's withholds with a two-thirds majority in each chamber.
The budget proposal assumes the state will lose some general revenue because of a tax cut passed by lawmakers in 2014, which Haug said would probably begin going into effect Jan. 1.
Kurt Erickson and Jack Suntrup of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
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