"Ninty-one million is a lot of money in this budget climate," said Missouri Representative Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee. "The question is: 'Are we willing to do something else to raise the money, like a cigarette tax, or will we consider massive cuts in other areas?'"
While Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, said programs "close to his heart" will be affected, he added that the governor had no choice. "The governor is constitutionally required to balance the budget," Kelly said. "It's his No. 1 duty."
House Bill 11 was two steps away from Gov. Jay Nixon's desk when it was voted down 85-75 in the House and sent back to committee for revision by House and Senate budget leaders. All three Columbia representatives -- Democrats Chris Kelly, Mary Still and Stephen Webber -- voted for the bill.
The representatives from Columbia and Mexico, Mo., worked together to convince members of both parties that the projects involved were not pork, said Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia.
"In many, many years we have not have had a failure in selecting judges with this system," Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia said. "The bill's supporters want a political judiciary, and that's all this bill does."Cox, in turn, said it would limit secrecy in the process of choosing judges by making the names and professional background of all judicial candidates public."Right now it is a system controlled by a small group of people who want to create a status quo," he said. "Like other ..
The $800 million bond issue -- sponsored by Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, and Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia -- passed the Senate Appropriations Committee. It heads to the Senate floor. If passed by the Senate, the bond will appear on the November ballot. If approved by voters, the bond will go before legislators, who will determine how much money each project would receive. Under the current language, MU is slated to receive $47.8 million for renovations.
Ellis Fischel may receive funding from a $700 million bond resolution sponsored by Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, and cosponsored by Tilley. But that proposal faced a Senate committee Monday and is not ready to pass, said Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia.
The maintenance and repair money would more closely align the UM System with a 45 percent funding increase given to other state schools earlier in the session, said Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, who sponsored the amendment.
The House preliminary approval was by a voice vote after a short presentation by the bill sponsor, Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia. No other member even spoke on the measure that is co-sponsored by the GOP House leader.
Republican Majority Leader Steven Tilley and Senior Democrat Chris Kelly teamed up in convincing lawmakers to pass through committee a 700 million dollar higher education bonding bill.
Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, said the adoption of the amendment would solve two problems: creating jobs and funding higher education building projects.
The sponsor Democratic Rep. Chris Kelly of Columbia said its adoption would solve two problems: creating jobs and funding higher education building projects.
VOTES: 18-11. The opposing votes came from the Democrats on committee except for Rep. Jonas Hughes, D-Jackson County, and Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia.
Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, agreed with Shields' assertion. Kelly said he supports combining all state universities under a board of curators because it would make state universities more efficient. However, he said he does not think it will ever be done because some schools would oppose it.
But Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, said he has always opposed the Lewis and Clark fund on the basis of its legality and its using money designed for student loans and not appropriations for capital improvement projects.
14 state universities and one community college governing board will lose out on state money and Columbia Democratic Representative Chris Kelly says the initiative was bound to fail.
Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, said bipartisan cooperation on budget matters has been a priority for House leadership. Kelly, who served as the House's Budget Committee chairman from 1991 to 1994, has been in communication with current House Budget Committee Chairman Allen Icet, R-Wildwood.
Rep. Chris Kelly, a Columbia Democrat, was one of several members of his party on the House Budget Committee to strip $100 million from Gov. Nixon's job training program Monday.
Under the bill, sponsored by Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, MU would receive $81 million, which would help fund construction projects originally intended to receive money from the sale of state loan authority's assets.
A resolution sponsored by Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, would give Missouri voters the final say in giving the state the ability to issue up to $700 million in bonds.
A resolution sponsored by Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, would give Missouri voters the final say in giving the state the ability to issue up to $700 million in bonds.