Missouri panel weighing federal allocations awaits final rules, infrastructure bill adoption

(The Center Square) – Missouri has until December 2026 to spend at least $2.8 billion in federal COVID-19 stimulus money it will receive, so momentum for a fall special session to distribute the one-time plug has slackened.

But the six-member House Federal Stimulus Spending Subcommittee has been meeting since June to “sort through priorities” to present lawmakers with proposals when they convene their 2022 session in January, chair Doug Richey, R-Excelsior Springs, said.

“What we’re doing in the federal stimulus appropriations committee is holding hearings for departments, giving updates on various priorities and the dollars associated with those proposals, and then (the committee) will sort through those priorities” and get proposals before the House Budget Committee during the session, he said.

Richey’s House panel has paced the discussion with the Senate “in an information-gathering phase,” said Drew Dampf, chief of staff for Sen. Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“The Senate has no plans to do anything specific through the fall,” Dampf said.

The House Federal Stimulus Spending Subcommittee on Wednesday discussed broadband expansion, which it had also explored in earlier meetings. It’s among few specific proposals before the panel, Richey said, noting Gov. Mike Parson has earmarked $400 million in federal stimulus money for expansion, especially in rural areas.

“The governor has already given us a target, $400 million for broadband,” he said. “Our responsibility is to work through the various questions related to that $400 million. Is it too much? Is it too little?”

Richey said the timing is a key, and frustrating, factor because federal assistance comes with restrictions and rules that, in some cases, haven’t been formalized.

For instance, rule-making continues for how states can use funds from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), approved by Congress in March.

“It is one of the reasons we decided not to try to rush through and appropriate this last session, because we didn’t know all the rules yet,” Richey said.

In addition, there’s potentially more federal money coming down the pike via the infrastructure bill being debated in Congress.

Missouri is slated to receive more than $8 billion as part of the five-year $1.2 trillion Build Back Better bill approved by the U.S. Senate in August but remains stalled in the House, which could vote on it Thursday.

“Certainly, there are questions in the infrastructure bill before Congress that have to be answered,” Richey said, noting, for instance, while the governor has earmarked stimulus money for broadband, Missouri would receive $100 million for expansion under the Senate-adopted package.

There are similar redundancies across a spectrum of possible appropriations that need to be identified to ensure the state gets the best bang for its federal buck, he said.

“We don’t want to spend money on something now that money later will be earmarked for,” Richey said.

One infrastructure realm that needs investment is state and local government IT systems across Missouri, he said.

“There are too many one-off systems” within state government and in municipal and county governments “that do not communicate with each other,” Richey said. “We have an opportunity to address state IT in a very significant way.”

The subcommittee will meet through the fall with proposals solidifying as rules are firmed for spending stimulus funds and allocations under the infrastructure bill are confirmed.

“Right now, we’re working more informally. We don’t have a bill in front of us but we know these dollars are going to be spent on something,” Richey said. “On the whole, though, we are looking at concrete rebar projects, deferred maintenance around the state, social services – all of that is going to come before us as we get into session.”

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