Section 1. Executive power—the governor.—The supreme executive power shall be vested in a governor.
Section 2. Duties of governor.—The governor shall take care that the laws are distributed and faithfully executed, and shall be a conservator of the peace throughout the state.
Section 3. Qualifications of governor.—The governor shall be at least thirty years old and shall have been a citizen of the United States for at least fifteen years and a resident of this state at least ten years next before election.
Section 4. Power of appointment to fill vacancies—tenure of appointees.—The governor shall fill all vacancies in public offices unless otherwise provided by law, and his appointees shall serve until their successors are duly elected or appointed and qualified.
Section 5. Commissions of state officers.—The governor shall commission all officers unless otherwise provided by law. All commissions shall be issued in the name of the state, signed by the governor, sealed with the great seal of the state and attested by the secretary of state.
Section 6. Commander in chief of militia—authority.—The governor shall be the commander in chief of the militia, except when it is called into the service of the United States, and may call out the militia to execute the laws, suppress actual and prevent threatened insurrection, and repel invasion.
Section 7. Reprieves, commutations and pardons—limitations on power.—The governor shall have power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, after conviction, for all offenses except treason and cases of impeachment, upon such conditions and with such restrictions and limitations as he may deem proper, subject to provisions of law as to the manner of applying for pardons. The power to pardon shall not include the power to parole.
Section 8. Concurrent resolutions—duty of governor—exceptions—limitation of effect.—Every resolution to which the concurrence of the senate and house of representatives may be necessary, except on questions of adjournment, going into joint session, and of amending this constitution, shall be presented to the governor, and before the same shall take effect, shall be proceeded upon in the same manner as in the case of a bill; provided, that no resolution shall have the effect to repeal, extend, or amend any law.
Section 9. Governor’s messages and recommendations to assembly—call of extra sessions.—The governor shall, at the commencement of each session of the general assembly, at the close of his term of office, and at such other times as he may deem necessary, give to the general assembly information as to the state of the government, and shall recommend to its consideration such measures as he shall deem necessary and expedient. On extraordinary occasions he may convene the general assembly by proclamation, wherein he shall state specifically each matter on which action is deemed necessary.
So what did the governor do that raised such a question? You might inquire, so this is the decision in question.
Today, Governor Mike Kehoe announced additional steps his administration is taking to expedite food assistance for at-risk Missourians, given the impending loss of November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits due to the Democrat-led federal government shutdown.
SNAP benefits are 100 percent federally funded, with each recipient receiving benefits from the federal government via their Electronic Benefit Transfer card. There is no mechanism for state appropriations to be transferred to cover this funding. The Missouri Department of Social Services stands ready to issue November SNAP benefits as soon as possible once the federal government is reopened.
Governor Kehoe has directed a full $10.6 million fund transfer from the Senior Services Growth and Development Fund to Missouri Area Agencies on Aging. This funding will be critical in supporting Missouri’s Area Agencies on Aging in providing meals to seniors.
Additionally, Governor Kehoe has ordered a $5 million distribution to Missouri food banks using Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding. This action takes the place of a regular appropriation typically issued later in the year but is being issued now given an increase in need due the loss of SNAP benefits. Missourians in need of food assistance or looking to volunteer or donate are directed to Feeding Missouri – a coalition of six Missouri Food Banks working to provide hunger relief to every county in the state.
Missouri
10.5% of its 6,245,466 residents received SNAP benefits in May 2025. Churches by and large especially the LDS church promotes the membership to have food storage in case of emergencies and it is always a great idea to plan ahead, however this message is lost on many Americans who’ll continue to fund their vices instead of prepare for future issues.
To answer the question as to the authority of the governor to redirect funding for a specific situation EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT Art. IV § 28 says the following;
Section 28. Treasury withdrawals, how made, certified how—appropriation, period of.—No money shall be withdrawn from the state treasury except by warrant drawn in accordance with an appropriation made by law, nor shall any obligation for that payment of money be incurred unless the commissioner of administration certifies it for payment and certifies that the expenditure is within the purpose as directed by the general assembly of the appropriation and that there is in the appropriation an unencumbered balance sufficient to pay it. At the time of issuance each such certification shall be entered on the general accounting books as an encumbrance on the appropriation. No appropriation shall confer authority to incur an obligation after the termination of the fiscal period to which it relates, and every appropriation shall expire six months after the end of the period for which made.
I would assume (could be dangerous) that even monies allocated to different departments in the budgetary process are considered to be in the state treasury until they become an expenditure by that department. If I am reading correctly, the governor is allocating funds with a specific appropriation within a specific department of the government and redirecting a certain amount of those funds to something else. Whether this is the right or wrong thing to do is not the question I was sent; the question is, does the governor have the constitutional authority to redirect monies already allocated for a specific purpose and use those funds for something completely different?
I’m not finding where the people under A1S1 have granted any such provision; however, if asked of most elected individuals, I’m quite certain the response will be “it doesn’t say he can’t, therefore…” In this person’s opinion, A1S1 says;
Section 1. Source of political power—origin, basis and aim of government.— That all political power is vested in and derived from the people; that all government of right originates from the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole.
The people have NOT vested this authority in the governor; if they had, it would clearly state so, but it does not. *all government of right originate from the people* that doesn’t occur simply because you’ve been elected, because you’ve been granted specific permissions to do some things. You’ve not been granted permissions to do others.
A future battle will be that “it doesn’t say that we can’t” which I believe is a very chicken crap way to tell people your backbone isn’t as straight as you think it to be, or you lack the principles to say there is no constitutional authority for this to be done.
