{"id":8881,"date":"2026-03-09T18:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T23:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/09\/budget-leader-proposes-massive-overhaul-of-missouri-higher-education-funding\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T18:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T23:12:12","slug":"budget-leader-proposes-massive-overhaul-of-missouri-higher-education-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/09\/budget-leader-proposes-massive-overhaul-of-missouri-higher-education-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Budget leader proposes massive overhaul of Missouri higher education funding"},"content":{"rendered":"
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State Rep. Dirk Deaton, R-Seneca and chairman of the House Budget Committee, explains his spending proposals during a Monday hearing. (Rudi Keller\/Missouri Independent)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A push to shift hundreds of millions of dollars among Missouri state colleges and universities ran into bipartisan skepticism Monday during a hearing of the House Budget Committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

State Rep. Dirk Deaton, chairman of the House Budget Committee, said he wants to overhaul state support for community colleges and universities by reallocating funding based on the number of full-time students on each campus. Current funding is too tied to past appropriations, he said, and gives the 10 four-year universities and 12 community colleges widely varying amounts for each student educated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe money follows the student, it is really as simple as that,\u201d said Deaton, a Republican from Seneca.<\/span><\/p>\n

State Rep. Ed Lewis, a Moberly Republican, was among members skeptical about the massive reallocation. Truman State University in Kirksville would lose more than half of its funding under Deaton\u2019s plan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be a tremendous hit to that university, and would probably cause that university to close within two years,\u201d said Lewis, who is a candidate for state Senate in the district that includes Kirksville.<\/span><\/p>\n

Deaton led the committee through a discussion Monday of his proposed changes to appropriations for state government operations in the coming year. The committee will meet again Wednesday for further changes before sending the 12 spending bills to the full House for debate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Budget figures compiled by The Independent show the proposals Deaton discussed Monday would use $15.4 billion of general revenue, about $420 million less than <\/span>Gov. Mike Kehoe requested<\/span><\/a> in January. All spending on operations, including federal funds and earmarked taxes, would be $50.6 billion, or about $1.4 billion less than requested by Kehoe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the money cut from operations will be shifted to the capital construction budget. Deaton said his spending plan, overall, uses about $300 million less general revenue than the $16.2 billion total sought by Kehoe.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said he will unveil his proposals for building construction and major renovations after lawmakers return from next week\u2019s legislative Spring Break.<\/span><\/p>\n

The budget still leaves a huge gap between anticipated revenue and proposed spending. For the coming year, that gap of about $2.6 billion would be covered by accumulated surpluses.<\/span><\/p>\n

One way Deaton saves general revenue is by tapping other funds that can be spent instead of general revenue. He\u2019s using a constitutional directive to take $64.7 million from the <\/span>Blind Pension Fund<\/span><\/a> for public schools and taking <\/span>interest earned<\/span><\/a> since lawmakers set aside $1.6 billion for highway projects on <\/span>Interstate 70<\/span><\/a> and Interstate 44, about $160 million total.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other significant items in Deaton\u2019s budget proposal include:<\/span><\/p>\n