Missouri lawmakers have approved a spending plan to cut core funding for public colleges and universities by about 6.6 percent.
Legislators on Thursday sent the plan to Gov. Eric Greitens' desk. It's part of a package of bills outlining the state's $27 billion budget next fiscal year, which begins in July.
Lawmakers' work comes amid a budget crunch and lagging state revenues. Greitens and his predecessor, Jay Nixon, have made a combined $350 million of spending cuts to offset lower-than-expected revenues.
The K-12 education budget passed by the Legislature calls for about $45 million more in basic aid for schools than what was recommended by the Republican governor, who had asked for a slight increase but not enough to meet funding goals.
Lawmakers also spared money for school busing. Greitens wanted to cut that by about $25 million compared to this fiscal year.
The proposal also seeks to force public colleges and universities to charge international tuition to students without lawful immigration status and bans scholarships for those students.