During his State of the State address on January 18, Governor Parson outlined his budget requests including $859 million for Interstate 70 to add a third lane in each direction across the state while omitting investment in transit. The Governor’s request for Interstate 70 would fund expansion from Kansas City and St. Louis as well as around Columbia.
The SFY 2024 Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission request was $17,160,875 for Missouri transit. This request included $15.45 million from General Revenue and $1.7 million from the State Transportation Fund. Last year, the total core budget was $1,710,875 in State Transportation funds and $7 million in General Revenue for 34 providers. According to the 2022 Statewide Transit Needs Assessment Study released last year this $17 million would put Missouri in line with some of its peer states with regards to transit investment.
“It is a disappointment to see our win last year of $7 million not included in this year’s budget recommendations from the Governor. This investment in transit is a critical match to ensure our providers can draw down the historic federal funding levels available for public transit back to Missouri,” said Kimberly Cella, executive director of Citizens for Modern Transit. “This just means we will have to work even harder this year to educate the legislature on the importance of this investment to the state’s bottom line.”
Transit supporters can help by reaching out members of the House and Senate Committees on the importance of transit investment:
- Senate Appropriations Committee: https://www.senate.mo.gov/Committees/CommitteeDetails/3
- Senate Transportation, Infrastructure, and Public Safety: https://www.senate.mo.gov/Committees/CommitteeDetails/53
- House Subcommittee on Appropriations – Public Safety, Corrections, Transportation, and Revenue: https://house.mo.gov/Committees.aspx?cluster=true
- House Budget Committee: https://house.mo.gov/Committees.aspx?cluster=true
- House Transportation Infrastructure Committee: https://house.mo.gov/Committees.aspx?cluster=true
- House Transportation Accountability: https://house.mo.gov/Committees.aspx?cluster=true