JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Legislature gave final approval Thursday to a budget that cuts funding for colleges and universities and holds basic aid flat for public K-12 schools, an outcome that some lawmakers acknowledged was inadequate but defended as the best they could do given the state's finances.

The $23.2 billion operating budget for next year now goes to Gov. Jay Nixon, who can veto or reduce expenditures but cannot add to them. Nixon said Thursday that the budget appears to spend at least $30 million more than he expects the state to receive in revenues and warned that he may have to make cuts.

Overall, the 2012 budget plan is about the same size as the 2011 budget approved last year, though Nixon cut about $300 million from the current year's budget because of slumping tax revenues. Cuts of that magnitude appear unlikely in the 2012 budget plan, because tax collections have improved.

Filed Under : K-12 Education