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Mo. Senate passes FY2012 budget

The Missouri Senatehas passed the state budget for next year.

The Senate’s $23.2 billion spending plan cuts the state’s higher educationbudget by 4.8 percent, and provides an additional $20 million for school bus funding.  Kurt Schaefer(R, Columbia) sponsored the budget bills in the Senate.

“There’s still more that we could do as the state of Missouri for both K-12and higher education, but again, we have to live within the confines of the budget that we have," Schaefer said.  "We do have a constitutional amendment that requires us to have a balanced budget, and so we’re not gonna spend more than we have.”

State Senator Jim Lembke(R, Lemay) tried several times to strip federal stimulus money out of the budget, but each attempt was voted down.

The Senate and House next have to agree on a final version of the budget before sending it to Governor Jay Nixon(D).

Marshal was a political reporter for St. Louis Public Radio until 2018.