Governor Kehoe signs FY 2027 budget: St. Louis-area vetoes and July 1 limits

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the state’s FY 2027 operating and capital improvement budget bills on June 30, 2026—and the practical story for St. Louis-area residents is what changed next: line-item vetoes that permanently remove specific appropriations, plus “expenditure restrictions” for July 1 that can put named projects or programs on hold.

The Office of Administration publishes both the FY 2027 Vetoes list and the FY 2027 July 1 Restrictions list in official PDF documents. Those lists include multiple St. Louis City and St. Louis County entries, including a St. Louis County police communications building restriction, St. Louis City youth/community programming restrictions, and a Jefferson County buyout veto.

June 30 vs. July 1: what happened in Missouri’s FY 2027 budget

According to the governor’s June 30 press release, Kehoe signed FY 2027 budget bills totaling $50.7 billion. The release also says the operating budget is approximately $49.8 billion after vetoes. It further describes 65 vetoes totaling over $30 million in general revenue, and 78 expenditure restrictions totaling $441.3 million (including $337.2 million in general revenue).

Then, for FY 2027, the Office of Administration’s expenditure restriction list is specifically titled for July 1, 2026. That matters because the veto and restriction lists are not the same “kind” of budget change for recipients.

Veto vs. expenditure restriction: plain-language differences

• Line-item veto: A veto removes the governor’s approval for a specific appropriation item. In practice, that item is off the table as written.
• Expenditure restriction: A restriction limits or conditions spending of a named line item. In practice, that can mean money is restricted, delayed, or held unless/until the restriction is lifted or satisfied.

This is why residents and nonprofit leaders should treat the two lists differently: vetoed items are typically “gone,” while restricted items may still come back later depending on how Missouri administers the limits.

What the official lists say for the St. Louis region

Here are the St. Louis-area examples that appear directly in the Office of Administration’s official FY 2027 PDFs:

Vetoed line item (removed)

• Jefferson County buyout: “Jefferson County Buyout” appears on the veto list with a vetoed amount of $2,000,000.

Expenditure restrictions (spending limited/held as of July 1)

• St. Louis County Police Communications Building: The restrictions list includes “St. Louis County Police Communications Building” with a restricted amount of $3,000,000.
• St. Louis City youth/community programming: The restrictions list includes multiple St. Louis City youth/community-related entries, including “St. Louis City Boys and Girls Club” ($4,000,000) and “Gene Slay’s Girls and Boys Club” ($3,000,000).

Those “named line items” are not the same thing as the total budgets of every organization that provides services in St. Louis. They are specific items called out in the state budget documents.

How residents can check whether their organization is named

1. Open the two official PDFs from the Missouri Office of Administration: the FY 2027 veto list and the FY 2027 July 1 restrictions list.
2. Search within each PDF for terms like “St. Louis,” “St. Louis City,” “St. Louis County,” “Jefferson,” and the organization name you care about (for example, “Boys and Girls Club” or “Habitat for Humanity”).
3. Confirm whether the item is in the veto PDF or the restrictions PDF. That tells you whether it’s a removed appropriation (veto) or a limited/held spending line item (restriction).
4. Ask local partners what’s affected. If you rely on a provider named in the restriction list, contact the organization and relevant local partners to ask what contracts, timelines, or program schedules are tied to that line item.

What to watch next

For restricted items, the key “next question” for residents is whether Missouri lifts the restriction later, changes how agencies implement it, or delays implementation to a later phase of the fiscal year. For vetoed items, the next question becomes whether any separate funding path replaces what was vetoed—or whether the change shifts timelines or service delivery.

Local reporting can help you interpret the budget documents in human terms. For example, First Alert 4 has reported on Missouri budget vetoes and how the changes can affect substance-use prevention organizations in the St. Louis region, while also pointing readers to the official governor and budget materials as the starting point for verification.

Sources

• Governor Mike Kehoe press release — FY 2027 budget bills signed (vetoes + expenditure restrictions totals)
• Missouri Office of Administration — FY 2027 Vetoes (official PDF list)
• First Alert 4 (KMOV) — Missouri budget vetoes cut substance use prevention funding
• St. Louis Business Journal — Kehoe vetoes/freeze impacts on St. Louis-area projects

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