MOScout Daily Update: Higher Ed Funding Formula Timeline - MDFB Preps Royals Bonds - Unions Heart Data Centers and more…
Higher Ed Funding Formula Timeline
The Coordinating Board for Higher Education meets tomorrow. According to the meeting documents, the agenda will touch on their work to revamp the funding formula for higher education.
Last session, former Budget Chair Dirk Deaton and Rep. Bishop Davidson put forth a plan to radically shift funding according to a new formula which strictly followed student enrollment.
Support for that plan never materialized, but it did spur discussions about the need to update the formula.
The Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development was charged with the task of producing a new formula by December 1 that redistributes the existing $1.2 billion more equitably.
That plan hasn’t been released yet, but the Board’s “Draft Higher Education Funding Framework Legislation” would push off any implementation of a new formula until FY 2030. It proposes a new task force which would review the not-yet-completed formula. And after another review, the funding model would be submitted “to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president pro tempore of the senate before October 15, 2028.”
· In the meantime, the FY 2028 Public College and University Operating Budget Recommendations call for a variety of increases in the budgets of higher education institutions.
Why This Matters
The “Budget Recommendations” offer a blunt assessment of the state’s financial situation: The formal budget instructions include a brief fiscal outlook for the state budget. That outlook highlighted an anticipated shortfall of more than $500 million in FY 2028. In addition, spending authorized in the FY 2027 budget is projected to outpace ongoing revenues by more than $1 billion and grow larger in future years.
· Higher Ed is a tempting target for legislators trying to balance the books. A lot of other targets – reducing provider reimbursements to rein in Medicaid costs, eliminating tax credits to decrease redemptions – are nearly impossible to implement to achieve quick reductions.
And
Governor Mike Kehoe, who has repeatedly called for government to run “at the speed of business,” might not be thrilled with the new model timeline which seems to be running at the speed of academia.
MDFB Preps Royals Bonds
According to a recently closed Request for Proposals, the Missouri Development Finance Board is preparing to borrow for “the construction of a professional baseball stadium. It is anticipated that the selected firm will be engaged effective September 2026… The firm will be responsible for developing financing plans for debt issuances including recommended size, structure, and specific terms and conditions relating to financings for a professional baseball stadium.”
· Based on the Royals agreement anticipating $15.3 million annually for 30 years in state debt service, we’re looking at a ballpark guesstimate of $200-$250 million.
More on A-F Report Card
Last week I wrote about the State Board of Education spending time at its meeting discussing the rollout of the A-F scorecards, and whether the formula should account for student demographics.
I heard from a couple of folks about how A-F can be useful…
· The concerns you outlined are why the measure of “academic growth” and the overall weight given to it in the letter grade calculation is so important. When calculated and weighted properly, this measure can clearly communicate which schools and teachers are improving student outcomes and which ones need more support to do so. Parents and Missouri taxpayers deserve transparency in understanding how students are actually doing.
· Status is generally correlated with poverty. Growth is not. Which is why it’s important that growth is heavily weighted in whatever the final letter grade calculation is.
Meanwhile
MNEA says this “flawed scheme collapses complex, dynamic school environments into a single arbitrary score. Decades of research show that letter-grade accountability schemes do not measure instructional quality; instead, they mirror community income and punish under-resourced neighborhoods.”
Unions Heart Data Centers
The Wall Street Journal reports on unions backing data centers because it’s good work!
Call it the backlash to the backlash: Nationwide resistance to the construction has grown so broad that politicians on both sides of the aisle have halted approvals or tightened oversight as midterm elections approach. Unions and construction trade groups are now entering the fray from the other side, warning that such actions endanger thousands of building-related jobs. They are threatening to withhold support of candidates opposing the data-center projects.
MRL’s Nov Endorsements
Missouri Right to Life released its November legislative endorsements. Find them here.
They’re not particularly consequential. While the MRL endorsement can be a differentiator in primaries, most voters guided by it will be voting Republican in November regardless.
It’s not even much of a base-mobilization tool since Amendment 3 will presumably be bringing pro-life voters to the polls across all districts.
New Non-Profit
The Association For Missouri Power Education & Development, Inc. was formed last Thursday. It’s a nonprofit. According to its filing, its purpose is to “educate members of the public regarding the obtaining of fuel, generation, trade, sale, financing, transmission, laws and regulation, maintenance, improvement, customer utilization, environmental sustainability, and any and all other activities or processes necessary to provide electricity reliably and safely to customers of the great State of Missouri and beyond…”
Lobbyist Registrations
Amy Blunt added St. Louis Arts Coalition.
Gamble & Schlemeier deleted Graduation Alliance, Inc.
Dennis Ganahl deleted Missouri Future, LLC.
$5K+ Contributions
House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $40,000 from Real Action PAC.
The Rowdy PAC - $25,000 from J & J Ventures Gaming of Missouri LLC (Effingham, IL).
Her Health, Her Future PAC - $10,000 from Samuel Coryell.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Rep-elect Roger Koch, Chris Koster, Chris Carter Sr., and Amanda Bell.