The 2025 Missouri Legislative session wrapped the budget process on Friday, May 9 with a third-year sustained investment in transit. HB4 which was approved in Conference Committee included $10 million in General Revenue plus $1.7 million from the State Transportation Fund for transit operations, a retention of the funding levels from 2023 and 2024, a 580 percent increase since 2021.
This was a roller coaster year for public transit funding, with the Governor recommending a cut of $5 million in his State of the State address in January. Then the House Budget Committee continued this recommendation along with a one-time appropriation of $1 million from General Revenue for a total of $7.7 million moving to the Senate. Senate Appropriations Chair Lincoln Hough worked to move the funding to a higher level with $20 million in General Revenue coming out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. In the end the conference committee came back to $10 million in General Revenue plus the $1.7 million from the State Transportation Fund.
This funding will help provide the non-federal or local match required to enable transit providers to draw down some of the $91 billion in federal funds earmarked for transit as part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Federal funding support requires a 50:50 match for transit operations and an 80:20 match for capital programming. Missouri transit providers have been working diligently to identify local funding sources through sales tax, private contracts and more, but the most significant missing link up to this point had been the lack of state funding.
MEHTAP funding held at $5 million. In addition, HB20 included $6 million at the state level as the twenty percent matching funds for $24 million from the federal 5310 capital program for non-profits for vehicles.
The budget now goes to the Governor to sign it into law.