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KIRKSVILLE, MO --  

After months of discussion and debate, the Missouri state budget is finally complete.

Our Fact Finder Team chatted with state lawmakers about their woes with this year's budget.
State Senator Wes Shoemyer was not in favor of House Bill II, which cut K -12 education funding. This includes state money used for student transportation.

“Putnam County, their school district has the longest routes in the state of Missouri and this is a very disproportionate cut to our rural schools so for that reason and for other reasons, I certainly could not in good conscience vote yes because if we are gonna have to make tough decisions and we are gonna have to make tough cuts, they need to be proportionate where everyone suffers in an equal proportion,” Shoemyer said.
    
Deep cuts were also made to the Parents as Teachers program. This means parents will have to pay to participate. Shoemyer tells Fact Finder the first six home visits will be free, which will help soften the blow to parents.

A big ticket of concern is a one percent cut to the foundation formula that funds K-12 education. State Representative Rebecca McClanahan is in favor of re-vamping the amount of tax credits available, which decreases state revenues.

“We've under-calculated by over a billion dollars over the last few years that have gone to tax credits and so I just can't help but think what if we'd done something about tax credits last year of the year before, we might not be having to cut K-12 education this year,” McClanahan said.
    
McClanahan is also concerned with the cuts to the Department of Mental Health. This could directly affect Mark Twain Behavioral Health, Preferred Family Healthcare, and the SB40 Developmental Disabilities Board.