BILL NUMBER: DATE: HB 2018 2/17/2026 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 2/13/2026 11:24 AM THE INFORMATION ON THIS FORM IS PUBLIC RECORD UNDER CHAPTER 610, RSMo. HB 2018 is presented as maintenance.
It is a capital authorization bill wrapped in maintenance language.
The Core Problem
This bill repeatedly funds:
“maintenance, repairs, replacements, unprogrammed requirements, emergency requirements, operational maintenance and repair, and improvements…”
The phrases “unprogrammed requirements” and “emergency requirements” are undefined.
Yet they are attached to hundreds of millions of dollars, including:
$120,520,606 transferred into the Facilities Maintenance Reserve Fund
$103,447,927 for “emergency requirements”
$138,799,468 for statewide improvements
$154,300,000 for Conservation
$111,338,116 for Corrections
$73,600,744 for Mental Health
$84,070,426 for Highway Patrol
This is not narrow repair authority.
It is broad capital discretion.
If projects are known, they should be itemized. If they are unknown, they should not be pre-funded at this scale.
Structural Issue
The Facilities Maintenance Reserve Fund becomes a centralized, high-volume spending reservoir.
When large sums are appropriated under undefined catch-all terms, legislative specificity is reduced and administrative prioritization replaces project-level legislative direction.
That is not fiscal restraint. That is structural flexibility at scale.
Legislative Notice:
The recurring use of undefined categories such as “unprogrammed requirements” and “emergency requirements,” combined with significant transfers into and expenditures from the Facilities Maintenance Reserve Fund, materially increases executive discretion over capital allocation beyond enumerated project authority. The breadth of drafting diminishes traceable legislative intent and heightens audit and oversight complexity. The risk of scope expansion through reclassification under maintenance authority is foreseeable within the structure of this bill.
For these reasons, I oppose HB 2018. MISSOURI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WITNESS APPEARANCE FORM
BILL NUMBER: DATE: HB 2018 2/17/2026 COMMITTEE: Budget TESTIFYING: IN SUPPORT OF IN OPPOSITION TO FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES
WITNESS NAME INDIVIDUAL: WITNESS NAME: PHONE NUMBER: ARNIE "HONEST-ABE" DIENOFF-STATE PUBLIC ADVOCATE BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION NAME: TITLE:
ADDRESS:
CITY: STATE: ZIP:
EMAIL: ATTENDANCE: SUBMIT DATE: In-Person 2/17/2026 11:29 PM THE INFORMATION ON THIS FORM IS PUBLIC RECORD UNDER CHAPTER 610, RSMo. Cut all unnecessary expenses and waste.