The Missouri State Budget was signed into law Thursday, totaling $47.5 billion. Democratic Representative Peter Merideth of St. Louis called the budget 'surprising' after a highly contentious legislative session.
"All in all, I think that we came out with a really responsible bipartisan budget," Merideth said. "I was kind of shocked by the level of working together and agreeing between moderate Republicans, the governor and the Democrats."
Merideth is hopeful the spirit of cooperation between moderate Repbulicans and Democrats can continue.
"We fought for more in some of those cases, and obviously the Republicans in the house fought for a whole lot less and hated this budget," he said. "But I really think a common sense bipartisan balance was reached for the most part. Some good steps in the right direction."
Merideth said he's hopeful that, should there be a special session, some of the unused funds can go to priorities like education and transportation.
