© 2024 University of Missouri - KBIA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Mo. House gives initial approval to 2013 budget

Missouri legislators are wrangling over Gov. Nixon's proposed 2013 budget.
j.stephenconn
/
flickr
Missouri legislators are wrangling over Gov. Nixon's proposed 2013 budget.

The Missouri House has given first-round approval to the state budget for next year.  As St. Louis Public Radio’s Marshall Griffin tells us, Republican leaders pushed through their plan to restore higher education cuts proposed by Governor Jay Nixon by refusing to fund a program for blind residents.

Democrats made an effort to restore funding for the blind by trying to de-fund new drug testing requirements for some low-income residents on state assistance.  But the amendment failed on a mostly party-line vote.  Democrat Sara Lampe of Springfield, who sponsored the amendment, called this year’s budget situation horrible.

“Not only do we have less money in the state budget, but we have a situation in which we have higher education funding against Medicaid services,” Lampe said.

GOP Budget Chair Ryan Silvey says they’re doing the best with what money they have, and that he’s no longer willing to cut money from higher education.  The House is scheduled to vote again on the budget Thursday and send it to the Missouri Senate.

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.
Related Content