Missouri Senate advances $46 billion state budget

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri senators have approved a roughly $46 billion state budget. The GOP-led chamber on Tuesday passed the spending package. Negotiators now have a little more than a week to hash out differences between the House and Senate plans. House lawmakers left billions of dollars in surplus funding unspent. Senators used some of that money for local projects and more money for K-12 public school busing. The budget also includes a ban on using public funding to reimburse Planned Parenthood for caring for Medicaid patients.