BILL NUMBER: DATE: HB 2006 1/29/2026 COMMITTEE: Budget TESTIFYING: IN SUPPORT OF IN OPPOSITION TO FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES
WITNESS NAME BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION: WITNESS NAME: PHONE NUMBER: KENDRA VARNS WALLIS 816-210-3413 BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION NAME: TITLE: MISSOURI PARKS ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ADDRESS: P.O. BOX 8531 CITY: STATE: ZIP: KANSAS CITY MO 64114 EMAIL: ATTENDANCE: SUBMIT DATE: kendra.wallis@missouriparks.org Written 1/29/2026 1:04 PM THE INFORMATION ON THIS FORM IS PUBLIC RECORD UNDER CHAPTER 610, RSMo. The Missouri Parks Association strongly supports the Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites budget included in House Bill 2006, specifically the new decision item in HB 2006 Section 6.345.
This provision includes the Governor’s recommendation of $1.7 million to fund 16 additional staff positions that will support expanded operations at Missouri state parks and historic sites. It also provides $21,000 for body camera subscription services for State Park Rangers, strengthening visitor safety and accountability.
Missouri State Parks manages 93 state parks and historic sites and welcomes nearly 20 million visitors and more than one million overnight guests annually. As visitation continues to grow, additional staffing is essential to maintain facilities, protect natural and cultural resources, and meet public expectations.
The department’s request includes: •Four park manager and assistant park manager positions at Ha Ha Tonka, Rock Bridge Memorial, Elephant Rocks, and Taum Sauk Mountain State Parks. •Nine maintenance and skilled trade worker positions across multiple locations to address critical repair and preservation needs. •Three new park ranger positions, with vehicles, for the East Region, Ozarks Region, and Katy Trail State Park to enhance statewide coverage and visitor safety. •Body camera subscription services for existing equipment for the State Park Rangers program.
These items are vital to sustaining high-quality park operations, preserving public investments, and ensuring safe and welcoming experiences for millions of Missourians and visitors. On behalf of the nearly 2,500 members of the Missouri Parks Association and the 20 million annual visitors who enjoy Missouri state parks and historic sites, we respectfully urge you to support and approve HB 2006 including the important new decision item in HB 2006, Section 6.345. MISSOURI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WITNESS APPEARANCE FORM
BILL NUMBER: DATE: HB 2006 1/29/2026 COMMITTEE: Budget TESTIFYING: IN SUPPORT OF IN OPPOSITION TO FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES
WITNESS NAME INDIVIDUAL: WITNESS NAME: PHONE NUMBER: SARAH BERRY BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION NAME: TITLE:
ADDRESS:
CITY: STATE: ZIP:
EMAIL: ATTENDANCE: SUBMIT DATE: Written 1/28/2026 10:51 PM THE INFORMATION ON THIS FORM IS PUBLIC RECORD UNDER CHAPTER 610, RSMo. Chair and members of the Committee,
HB 2006 is not merely an appropriations bill. It is a policy vehicle embedded inside a funding instrument, and that is where the constitutional problem begins.
1. Article IV, §28 limits appropriations to purpose — not discretion
Article IV, Section 28 of the Missouri Constitution requires that appropriations be specific, time-limited, and purpose-bound. HB 2006 repeatedly departs from that requirement by authorizing: broad inter-fund transfers, sweeping flexibility clauses (some reaching 100%), and discretionary reallocations that effectively allow executive policy choices without legislative reenactment.
At that point, the General Assembly is no longer appropriating funds — it is delegating governing authority through the budget, which the Constitution does not permit.
2. Appropriations may not be used to enact or expand substantive policy
Missouri courts have long recognized that the budget process cannot be used to do indirectly what would require a separate policy bill directly.
HB 2006 repeatedly crosses that line by: embedding operational mandates, funding structural reorganizations, and financing programs whose scope and implementation are not clearly defined in statute.
That practice undermines bicameralism, public notice, and meaningful debate — all core safeguards of constitutional governance.
3. Excessive “flexibility” clauses defeat legislative accountability
Appropriations are how the legislature controls the executive. Flexibility clauses exist to address minor administrative variance — not to erase legislative intent. When flexibility reaches 25%, 50%, or 100%, legislative control becomes illusory. The practical effect is that policy outcomes are decided after passage, outside public view, by agencies rather than elected representatives.
That is not budgeting. That is abdication.
4. Massive fund aggregation obscures traceability and oversight
HB 2006 aggregates billions of dollars across dozens of funds with minimal line-item clarity.
This structure: frustrates auditability, weakens taxpayer transparency, and makes meaningful post-expenditure oversight nearly impossible.
The Constitution does not require blind trust.
It requires legible governance.
The Real Violation
The recurring violation is not any single dollar amount — it is the normalization of governing by appropriation, where policy, discretion, and accountability are quietly shifted from statute to spending language.
That pattern erodes separation of powers and invites judicial correction — something this legislature should not rely on courts to fix after the fact.
HB 2006, as drafted, exceeds the constitutional role of an appropriations bill.
If the General Assembly wishes to enact policy, restructure authority, or expand discretion, it must do so in standalone legislation, subject to full debate and constitutional scrutiny.
Until then, this bill should be rejected or severed to restore compliance with Article IV, Section 28.
Missouri’s Constitution does not permit governance by appropriation. -Rev. Sarah M. Berry MISSOURI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WITNESS APPEARANCE FORM
BILL NUMBER: DATE: HB 2006 1/29/2026 COMMITTEE: Budget TESTIFYING: IN SUPPORT OF IN OPPOSITION TO FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES
WITNESS NAME INDIVIDUAL: WITNESS NAME: PHONE NUMBER: ABIGAIL HERNDON BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION NAME: TITLE:
ADDRESS:
CITY: STATE: ZIP:
EMAIL: ATTENDANCE: SUBMIT DATE: Written 1/28/2026 10:55 PM THE INFORMATION ON THIS FORM IS PUBLIC RECORD UNDER CHAPTER 610, RSMo. There is no bill summary or financial note. MISSOURI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WITNESS APPEARANCE FORM
BILL NUMBER: DATE: HB 2006 1/29/2026 COMMITTEE: Budget TESTIFYING: IN SUPPORT OF IN OPPOSITION TO FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES
WITNESS NAME BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION: WITNESS NAME: PHONE NUMBER: JASON MOORE 660-281-6333 BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION NAME: TITLE: MISSOURI STATE FAIR DIRECTOR ADDRESS: 2503 W. 16TH STREET CITY: STATE: ZIP: SEDALIA MO 65301 EMAIL: ATTENDANCE: SUBMIT DATE: jason.moore@mda.mo.gov Written 1/29/2026 1:38 PM THE INFORMATION ON THIS FORM IS PUBLIC RECORD UNDER CHAPTER 610, RSMo. Discussed funding to re-route Clarendon Road.
Statutes affected: