JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri budget negotiators have decided to press ahead with cuts for agencies caught up in a controversy involving driver's license applicants and conceal gun permit holders.
A panel of House and Senate members agreed Tuesday to cut funding by one-third next year for the motor vehicle division in the Department of Revenue. The intent is to provide the rest of the money if the agency makes changes to its licensing procedures by next January.
Republican lawmakers are upset about new procedures in which license clerks are making electronic copies of applicants' personal documents such as birth certificates. They also are upset that a list of concealed gun permit holders was shared by the Highway Patrol with a federal fraud investigator.