Missouri House and Senate members will conference a Senate committee’s decision to reduce Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s budget.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved Vice Chairman Lincoln Hough (R-Springfield)’s proposal to cut $500,000 from Schmitt’s budget last week, which the Missouri House of Representatives had approved.
“I've got a stack of paperwork on my desk of budget items and different bills where the House has taken one position and the Senate has taken the other, and it will be ‘You win some and you lose some,’” said Rep. Brad Hudson (R-Cape Fair). “I expect the House will have their positions taken some and the Senate will have their positions taken some. Where this will fall, I do not know.”
Hudson originally proposed adding $500,000 to Schmitt’s budget last year.
“It was actually a recommendation that I made in subcommittee," Hudson told the St. Louis Record. "I chair the General Administration Subcommittee and evidently the Senate chose to take it out in committee. When it got to the Senate floor, there was a move by some Senators to try to put the money back in but it failed.”
Rep. Hough declined further comment but the Missouri Independent reported that Hough is upset with the mask mandate lawsuits Schmitt has filed against local governments and school districts.
“I respect his position,” Hudson said. “I hope he would respect mine. He and I have not had a conversation about it. I'd be happy to sit down and visit with him. When you have the large number of Republicans that we have serving in the Missouri legislature, no two people agree all the time on any one issue. This happens to be one issue where the Senator and I don't see eye to eye but that's the way it goes.”
The $500,000 was added to provide for new hires in the Solicitor General unit of Schmitt’s office, according to Hudson.
“We've got a situation where we've got, in a part of the Attorney General's office, a group of folks who do important work that the majority of my constituents and many folks all across Missouri appreciate,” he said. “They are having to work some really long hours. So, I feel it is our responsibility to make sure that the executive branch has the resources it needs to do the work that the citizens of Missouri expect it to do.”
The last day of the session is May 13.
"We're up against a deadline," Hudson added. "I don't think we're supposed to take up any appropriation bills after Friday. So, I expect we're going to start conferencing on these appropriation bills tomorrow."