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House Rejects Senate Budget Bills

The Missouri House rejected most of the budget bills passed last week by the Senate.  The move was part of the normal procedure for preparing for final budget negotiations. 

However, some House members took the opportunity to criticize the Senate for cutting more than $3 million from the state’s tourism budget. 

Republican Don Ruzicka of Lawrence County urged House Budget Chair Ryan Silvey to try to get the cut restored:

 “Boy, without that $3.2 (million), we’re gonna hurt, we’re gonna be in more cut next year if we don’t have that money in this year,” said Ruzicka.

Silvey responded that he’d do what he could but couldn’t make any commitments.

Specific cuts include $100,000 from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, which is half of the state’s allotment to the facility. 

The House also rejected the Senate’s restoration of $28 million for pensions to the blind in the Department of Social Services budget. 

House members did approve the budget for the Board of Fund Commissioners, which handles the state’s debt.  That bill now goes to Governor Nixon.

Marshall Griffin is the Statehouse reporter for St. Louis Public Radio.
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