Missouri budget advances in the Senate

(AP) — Missouri senators on Tuesday passed a roughly $46 billion state budget plan bolstered by federal funding that includes extra money for K-12 public school busing and teacher pay raises.

Negotiators now have a little more than a week to hash out differences between the House and Senate’s proposed spending plans before the May 6 deadline to pass a budget.

The latest version of the budget also includes about $32 million to help school districts subsidize teacher pay.

Republican Gov. Mike Parson called for pay raises for teachers and state workers to address a labor shortage in part caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.