JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri House Budget Committee's worked late Tuesday night to craft a budget for the fiscal year beginning in July.
11:20 p.m.
Department of Social Services Acting Director Jennifer Tidball says Missouri still is giving money to Planned Parenthood centers.
Tidball told the House Budget Committee on Tuesday that a St. Louis Planned Parenthood that performs abortions no longer qualifies for state funding for women's health services.
But she said other Planned Parenthood centers in the state that do not still are eligible for state money.
Lawmakers last year tried to stop funding for Planned Parenthood and other centers that provide abortion.
Tidball says the agency sent out roughly 500 letters to clinics that have received funding for women's health services. She says at least half have guaranteed they don't provide abortions and still can get state funding.
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9:55 p.m.
Missouri public defenders could get a one-time $6.8 million funding hike next fiscal year.
House Budget Committee members added the funding during late-night changes to the proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning in July.
The money is coming from funding for the attorney general's office that's set aside for consumer-protection efforts.
Missouri State Public Defender Director Michael Barrett told lawmakers the money could be used to hire private attorneys in cases with two defendants so that both are fairly represented.
He says the focus then would be on reducing caseloads for public defenders. He says the money would be a significant help in representing indigent defendants.
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9 p.m.
A Missouri House panel has rejected a plan to take unused funds from various boards and commissions to save a tax break for seniors and disabled renters.
The House Budget Committee voted down the proposal by Democratic Rep. Deb Lavender during work Tuesday to craft a budget for the fiscal year beginning in July.
House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick wants to eliminate the tax break for seniors and disabled renters to address budget shortfalls due to lagging revenues.
Lavender instead asked colleagues to tap unused money from boards such as the Board of Registration for the Healing Arts.
But budget leaders raised technical concerns about how that would work and warned it would be a one-time fix for budget strains that could continue.
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8:30 p.m.
Members of Missouri's House Budget Committee want to make records of elected officials' flights on the state airplane easily accessible by the public.
Members added the requirement for state airplane use to be recorded on sites such as FlightAware to budget proposals debated Tuesday.
Kansas City Democratic Rep. Greg Razer says his goal is to ensure citizens know when the plane is used and where it's headed.
Flights on the state plane were recorded on FlightAware when former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon was in office. He spent about $50,000 on state airplane flights during his final two months in office.
Records have been blocked on FlightAware since Republican Gov. Eric Greitens took office.
Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick says the change promotes transparency. Some lawmakers raised safety concerns.