The $47 billion state budget approved by the legislature last week includes several items that the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry expects will spur economic growth in Missouri.
“We are definitely pleased with the passage of the state budget and the potential transformational impact it could have on our economy,” said Kara Corches, vice president of governmental affairs with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The budget, which is the largest in state history, must now be signed by Gov. Mike Parson by July 1.
“These investments are being made with the funding coming down from the federal government's American Rescue Plan Act plus our state is also just having a really good year in terms of general revenue collected,” Corches told the St. Louis Record. “I think those two things combined provided an opportunity.”
Included in the budget is $15 million to support efforts to bring high-tech manufacturing industries, such as semiconductors and pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing, back to the Show-Me state.
“Everything that enables a modern economy is really predicated on the availability of semiconductors and the pandemic has underscored the need for us to onshore our supply of advanced pharmaceutical ingredients,” Corches said.
In Tylenol, for example, ingredient acetaminophen has been under supply chain constraints.
“We rely too heavily on other countries for these manufacturing processes when we actually have the footprint here in Missouri already for both of these industries that with some state investment can grow exponentially,” she said.
The budget also includes an appropriation of $13 million to return full Amtrak train service statewide, which would restore the Missouri River Runner service to two trains per day and boost tourism.
“This past year, the daily train service was cut down to one-stop and it has had a detrimental impact on the communities along that train line,” she said. “It also impacts general tourism and commuters. There are a lot of commuters who take the train to get to and from work.”
As previously reported in the St. Louis Record, lawmakers also approved $20 million for innovative child care solutions.
“We are thrilled with that because a lot of people have not re-entered the workforce due to childcare issues so not only do we want to be doing everything we can to help working parents, this is also a workforce development issue for us,” Corches added.
The budget also allocated $7 million to help train more nurses and $21 million to recruit and retain quality K-12 educators.
“We are among the states that pay the lowest for teachers so we want to ensure that we do everything to hold onto those teachers who are preparing our future workforce,” she said.