Tagged: joseph keaveny

Public schools could receive state money for preschool programs under a new proposal by a Missouri senator. But budget concerns could diminish its prospects of passage.

Sen. Joseph Keaveny filed two bills Thursday that would fund preschool programs through the state formula that already distributes money for K-12 education. One version would provide state aid for all preschool students; the other would pay only for lower income students.

Republican Senate leaders said Thursday that they like Keaveny's idea but it's unlikely the state can afford it.

Missouri state senators listened to over 3 hours of impassioned testimony on health care reform yesterday. The hearing was supposed to be on the rather mundane question of whether Missouri should set up an online health care exchange starting in 2014, or let the federal government do so. But the hearing quickly became a forum for debating the merits of health reform itself. After the jump, two interviews with senators on the committee: a Democrat representing one of the state's most liberal districts, and a Republican who has been at the forefront of Missouri's pushback against "Obamacare."