Mo. Senate panel boosts education funding

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A Missouri Senate committee has voted to lessen the proposed budget cut to public colleges and universities and increase funding for public school busing.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday restored $20 million to the core budgets for higher education institutions. That would reduce their budget cut to 4.8 percent for the next school year from the 7 percent cut originally proposed by Gov. Jay Nixon.

The committee chairman, Republican Sen. Kurt Schaefer of Columbia, says college and university officials have agreed to try to lower out-of-pocket expenses for students in exchange for the smaller state funding cut.

The committee also agreed to add $20 million to the roughly $98 million that had been proposed for school busing aid.