Last-minute budget cuts could make life harder for families, employers, and local governments in Missouri, but if we act together, we can take action to reverse the cuts!
Overview:
- Governor Kehoe issued a line-item veto in the Missouri state budget, which slashed transit funding by 42%.
- This cut exacerbates transit funding challenges across the state, making it harder for people to access jobs and resources and eroding the local economy.
- With your help, we can push state legislators to restore funding during the veto session in September.
How the Missouri budget process works
Each year, the Missouri legislature must adopt a proposed budget and send it to the governor for review and approval. The governor then has an opportunity to issue line-item vetoes. Line-item vetoes are the partial or full removal of portions of the proposed budget.
When Missouri legislators sent the proposed FY 2026 state budget to Governor Kehoe, he used his veto pen and reduced the amount of transit funding from $11.7 million to $6.7 million (a 42% decrease). You can learn more about the cuts from this piece by Citizens for Modern Transit.
Why this matters for people who ride the bus and people who don't
Why is the loss of this funding such an issue for the 30 transit providers across the state?
Transit funding cuts erode the local economy because it's difficult to retain employees in essential sectors like healthcare and hospitality when they lose transit options and their household transportation costs increase.
As families and businesses relocate to areas with better mobility options, municipal tax bases suffer. Consider this:
- Missouri’s per capita spending on transit has dropped from $1.89 to $1.08, making it the lowest per capita spending among neighboring states.
- State funding enables local communities to leverage some of the $91 billion in federal funds earmarked for transit; no state funding means local communities lose out.
- Both Missouri rural and urban transit systems have a massive economic impact:
- Missouri transit agencies provide 40 million rides annually, connecting Missourians to school, work, grocery stores, medical appointments, and other everyday destinations.
- Missouri's transit trips generate $2.66 billion in added economic activity and 22,410 added jobs annually.
- In sum, the average annual operations and ridership of public transit providers in Missouri help to support almost $51 million each year to state government–a loss for transit means a loss for Missouri revenue.
How you can help
We can’t allow this to happen. That’s why Missourians for Responsible Transportation and our partners across the state need YOUR help. Here’s what you can do:
- The Missouri Legislature will meet for a veto session on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. Our best chance to stop these cuts from taking effect is to urge our state legislators to override Governor Kehoe’s veto on transit funding.
The reductions to transit funding are more than just numbers on a page; they represent the loss of access to the resources Missourians need to achieve and maintain a good quality of life.
