Nixon pushes education, Medicaid reform in State of the State

During his State of the State address last night, Gov. Jay Nixon called for a budgetary shift for Missouri education, as well as Medicaid expansion, topics that mirrored key points made in his speech a year ago.

Education revamp
Speaking to a joint session of the Missouri General Assembly in Jefferson City, the Democratic governor proposed a $27.7 billion fiscal year 2015 budget, including a $493 million boost to education spending in the state.

"There aren’t many things every single one of us would agree on, but here’s one we can: Our single greatest responsibility - as elected officials, as parents, as citizens of our state - is to make sure every child in Missouri has an opportunity to achieve his or her dreams," Nixon said last night. "And we all know, that opportunity starts with education."

Nixon said education must start at an early level, his reasoning for budgeting $31.7 million for the Missouri Preschool Program, a $20 million increase; $53.3 million for the First Steps Program, an $8.5 million bump; and $16 million for Parents as Teachers, an increase of $1 million.

Nixon's budget includes $5.8 billion for elementary and secondary education, including a $278 million increase for K-12 classrooms, and $1.3 billion for higher education, including $42.1 million in performance-based funding for colleges and universities and $22 million in new funding to prepare students for high-demand careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Medicaid expansion
Last night, Nixon echoed a call for Medicaid reform in Missouri he made during the 2013 State of the State and again earlier this month, when provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act went into effect, effectively bulking up the health care program.

According to Nixon, Missouri taxpayers have spent roughly $115 million since New Year's Day to fund Medicaid expansion in other states, a figure that would build up to $2 billion by the end of the year, or $500 per Missouri taxpayer.

"Each day we don’t act, these states use Missourians’ tax dollars to implement innovative reforms, like rewards for making healthier lifestyle choices and penalties for missing doctors’ appointments," Nixon said. "Each day we don’t act, Missouri’s Medicaid system continues as it has for years, without additional protections for taxpayers, or new measures to promote personal responsibility."

Conceding there are problem's with President Barack Obama's health care reform law, Nixon said rejecting Medicaid dollars wouldn't solve problems with the ACA.

"Instead, by standing still, we’re making the things we don’t like about Obamacare even worse, forcing Missourians to bear all the costs of this law and reap none of the benefits," he said.

Despite backing by business groups - including the Springfield, Branson and Bolivar chambers of commerce - the Missouri General Assembly did not pass Medicaid expansion measures in 2013. Effective Jan. 1, participating states began seeing 100 percent federal funding for the first three years, with the states obligated to cover up to 10 percent of the costs through 2022.

GOP response
In the Republican response to the State of the State address, Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka, said Nixon's speech was laced with rhetoric but lacking in substantive solutions.

"Our governor mistakenly believes that more, bigger government is the answer, that his administration can decide how to better use your tax dollars, and that investments should be made in government programs rather than in the industrious people of this state," Jones said in the response, posted online at MOGOP.org.

Jones called for a smaller, more accountable government, lower taxes and less regulation.

"One of the best policies we can promote is giving people the right to pursue their dreams and their own economic freedom, to be masters of their own destiny," he said.[[In-content Ad]]