By:Ryan Brandt
Gov. Mike Kehoe has proposed decreasing state spending for Missouri’s transportation industry.
According to a chart from Citizens for Modern Transit and the Missouri Public Transit Association, Missouri counties were provided $6.7 million for transportation for this fiscal year.
The governor is proposing that the state cut spending to $1.7 million.
For the past three fiscal years, the state has pumped in funds from general revenue to supplement federal transit funding. Kehoe’s proposal returns funding to 2024 levels without additional state revenue. State budget officials project some very tight budget years ahead for Missouri.
Missouri already spends a substantially lower amount on transportation relative to surrounding states, according to research by the Citizens for Modern Transit organization.
Kimberly Cella, CEO of Citizens for Modern Transit and executive director of the Missouri Public Transit Association, wrote a letter to Kehoe expressing concern for the cuts.
“Public transit providers deliver nearly 40 million rides each year across rural and urban Missouri, while also stimulating $4 billion in economic activity statewide,” Cella wrote. “This proposed cut will carry very real and tangible repercussions.”
The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the reasons for the proposed cuts.
Cella notes that these budgetary restraints will adversely affect employees across Missouri. According to her organization’s research, over half of the state transit drivers work commutes dedicated to getting Missouri residents to their designated place of employment.
OATS Transit reports that employment is its leading trip purpose, and the demand is growing.
According to Citizens for Modern Transit, the state’s reported $265 million surplus discovered through a bookkeeping error earlier this year should be directed toward improving transit services throughout Missouri.
Cella said that under Kehoe’s proposition, 30 transit providers would need to share $1.7 million in funding. Big cuts to the budget would have an impact on how many routes companies can provide to Missourians.
“We’re looking at providers, some of them enroll in rural Missouri who will probably go under if not have to cut significant service,” she said.
“This is going to have a significant impact on Missouri transit providers because the other thing is, it’s not just the state funding that’s impacted. That state funding serves as a local match for many of these providers for federal funding,” she said.
Federal funding is available to Missouri providers, but it requires a match of 80% federal funds to 20% local funds.
“Many of our providers use the state investment as a match, so it’s literally a double whammy,” Cella said. “They’re losing state investment, but they’re also losing the necessary matching funds to draw down additional federal funds for their budgets.”
This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It can be republished in print or online.