Over this past week, the Senate’s Appropriations committee has been working through the state’s proposed operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

The committee has spent countless hours going over the state’s budget, line by line, saving taxpayer dollars where possible, while ensuring vital programs are still adequately funded. The 13 bills making up the Fiscal Year 2023 budget will soon head to the Senate floor for the consideration of the full body.

Even after the Senate passes its version of the budget in the near future, it’s important to note that there will likely be several conference committees where lawmakers will need to work out the differences between the House and Senate budgets. The Legislature faces a constitutional deadline of May 6 to pass a balanced operating budget for the state’s upcoming fiscal year.

While members of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee spent much of the week working through the budget, several important pieces of legislation did get the chance to move forward.

Senate Bill 683 deals with childcare and has been sent over to the Missouri House. It includes my Senate Bill 916, which will expand opportunities for day camps to provide childcare services to school-aged children when school is not in session. The Senate also passed Senate Bill 931 and includes my legislation making several changes to LLC filing.

With only a few weeks left in the 2022 legislative session, I look forward to working to get these bills across the finish line and to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.