Legislative Advocacy 2025
Archive: 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024Legislative Advocacy 2025
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Call to Action
The Budget now goes to the Senate for further action.
Please contact your Senator and thank them for the $200,000.00 increase for the Missouri Fine Arts Academy and the Missouri Scholars Academy bringing the budget to $1,050,000 thus ensuring no tuition will be charged to students attending the academies.
Contact your Senator here: Senator Missouri Senate | Missouri Senate
Updated 4/25/25
The Missouri Alliance for Arts Education Legislative Watch Team meets weekly during the legislative session and carefully reviews legislation filed to determine the potential impact on arts education, arts educators and students of the arts. Find below the legislation under review within the current year.
Call to Action
Call to Action
The Budget now goes to the Senate for further action.
Please contact your Senator and ask for them to vote to increase the Missouri Arts Council’s budget by $1.9 million. The current core funding is $10.1 million.
The core budget amount is listed at $10.1M and this increase of $1.9M will bring the entire budget request for the Missouri Arts Council to $12 Million. This amount is still below the statutory allocation of 60% of revenue collected from the Athletes and Entertainers tax.
Please let your leaders know that an additional $1.9 Million for MAC is needed to serve Missouri communities.
Updated 4/25/25
Bill #
click link for bill textSponsor
Description
MAAE Response
Sponsor
Pollitt
An open enrollment bill. HB 711 establishes transfer procedures to non-resident districts for students in public schools.
Below are Talking points that can be used in your Script.
House Bill 711: Open Enrollment for Public Schools
Please consider sending a message sharing your views. Some information to consider follows:
Revised 3/24/25
House Bill 711: Open Enrollment for Public Schools
Please consider sending a message to your Missouri state Senator sharing your views. Some information to consider follows. Feel free to select elements for your correspondence:
Missouri public schools educate all students, to ensure we have an informed populace to preserve democracy, and provide students the necessary skills to become productive members of society.
Ensuring all Missouri schools have the needed resources to serve their students will not only build up communities, and also will be more cost-effective economically, reducing costs and other issues related to transportation.
With transportation uncertainties, open enrollment disproportionately benefits families who can afford transportation, leaving lower-income students without real school choice.
Open enrollment destabilizes public schools, exacerbates inequities, and ultimately harms students in underfunded districts.
School operating costs do not decrease proportionally if students and funding leave the local district.
Unanticipated budget shortfalls leave struggling schools with fewer resources, forcing emergency budget cuts, and hurting remaining students.
Open enrollment will negatively impact
students who remain in their home district
students with special education needs due to selective enrollment
students and families of lower-socioeconomic backgrounds who lack resources or knowledge to navigate the transfer system
funding for essential school programs
schools by exacerbating socioeconomic segregation, with affluent students in certain schools and disadvantaged students in others
communities, causing fragmentation, destabilization, eroding tradition, local identity, reducing local civic engagement
district planning for staffing, facilities, and curriculum needs with rapid fluctuations in enrollment
Instead of withdrawing resources and shifting students, causing upheaval and greater instability, efforts should focus on equitable funding, community investment, targeted interventions to improve struggling schools and working in partnership to strengthen all public schools.
Link to MAAE Contact info for MO Senators
Updated 3/24/25
MAAE has concerns
Please respond to your Senators.
Sample Script below
Dear Senator X:
I am a taxpayer and voter in Missouri. I hope you will consider looking closer at open enrollment.
Use any of the points in the dropdown to the left to include in your letter to personalize your message.
Sincerely,
X
Authorizes Clay County to establish a county sports complex authority for the purpose of developing, maintaining, or maintaining sports, convention, exhibition, or trade facilities. Additionally, the bill establishes a Convention and Sports Complex Fund, which are separate from the general funds of the county.
MAAE is advocating to keep the sports teams in Missouri so we can collect more funds through the non-resident professional athlete and entertainers’ tax (A&E).
Sponsor
Hough
Carter
This act authorizes income tax deductions for educators and first responders.
For all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, this act authorizes a tax deduction in the amount of 100% of unreimbursed educator expenses incurred by an eligible educator, not to exceed $500.
MAAE supports this bill. Information below.
SB 12 - language was amended onto SB59 - Senate added an amendment to SB59 about the first responders and teachers $500 credit.
Other bills we are monitoring include
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