Hello MACRAO membership-
With the close of this year’s Missouri Legislature session on Friday, May 15, the MACRAO Government Relations Committee is now able to provide a final summary of this legislative session. The following bills have been truly agreed and finally passed pending the Governor signing them into law.
HB 2003 (https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB2003&year=2026&code=R)
Sponsor: Dirk Deaton (R)
Synopsis: Appropriates money for the expenses, grants, refunds, and distributions of the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development. The proposed language in the legislation to move away from funding institutions based on operational costs to a model based on full-time enrollment numbers passed in the House, but was not part of the version that ultimately passed the Senate.
HB 2061 (https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB2061&year=2026&code=R)
Sponsor: George Hruza (R)
Synopsis: Provides protections against discrimination and antisemitism in public schools and public postsecondary educational institutions.
HB 2593 (https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB2593&year=2026&code=R)
Sponsor: Bill Hardwick (R)
Synopsis: Currently, the tuition and fee waiver for undergraduate courses at Missouri higher education institutions to Missouri National Guard members apply after GI Bill educational entitlements. This bill repeals this provision. The bill specifies that for each semester, the tuition and fee waiver awarded by an institution to a member cannot exceed the amount of the grant received by the institution for that member.
HB 2896 (https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB2896&year=2217&code=R)
Sponsor: Chris Brown (R)
Synopsis: Modifies provisions relating to the governing bodies of certain public institutions of higher education. Limits the number of board appointees that may reside in the city or county of the specified higher education public institution’s principal administrative office.
The Government Relations Committee will provide an additional update this summer to the membership in the event that one or more of these bills is not signed by the Governor. Otherwise, this will be the final scheduled legislative update for this academic year. We have also included some additional articles of interest below. We hope our updates have been useful for you this legislative season.
ADDITIONAL ARTICLES OF INTEREST
AACRAO Transcript-AACRAO Joins Community Letter in Response to Education Department’s FY 2027 Budget Request
Higher Ed Dive-Colleges Get Another Year to Comply with Web Accessibility Deadlines
Higher Ed Dive-Education Department Releases Final Rule for Workforce Pell
Inside Higher Ed-Iowa’s Higher Ed Overhaul Bills Mostly Fizzled. State Regents May Act Instead
Inside Higher Ed-25 States Sue ED Over Grad Student Loan Limits
MACRAO Government Relations Committee
[email protected]
