成人抖阴

A massive that expands a private school scholarship program and opens up Boone County to charter schools squeaked out of the Missouri House and to the governor鈥檚 desk on Thursday, winning the bare minimum number of votes needed for passage.

The 153-page bill, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Andrew Koenig of Manchester, is estimated to cost taxpayers $468 million when fully implemented. It passed 82-69 and heads to Gov. Mike Parson. Three Democrats joined with 79 Republicans in support of the bill, with 45 Democrats and 24 Republicans voting against.

State Rep. Phil Christofanelli, a St. Peters Republican, carried the Senate bill and sponsored the legislation in 2021 that created the tax-credit scholarships, called MOScholars.

He said during Thursday鈥檚 debate that the bill combines his interest in the MOScholars program with investment in rural schools.

鈥淲e put together a package that serves all the diverse interests in education,鈥� Christofanelli said.

The original bill was 12 pages, but led to the inclusion of over a hundred pages of education legislation.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all going to take a step together,鈥� Christofanelli said Thursday. 鈥淭his is the most substantive investment in public education that this state has ever seen.鈥�

Lawmakers filed 53 amendments prior to the vote, but none were allowed by GOP leadership  to offer them for consideration.

Rep. Paula Brown, a Democrat from Hazelwood, said during debate that the Senate was controlling the process.

鈥淭his is an esteemed chamber, and we鈥檙e acting like we don鈥檛 matter,鈥� she said.

Christofanelli said the Senate had listened to concerns, and amendments were made to another bill Wednesday to smooth over issues with the larger package.

鈥淢y concern was that if I did those changes on this bill and sent it back into the Senate, it would get caught in the abyss and we would never have a law at the end,鈥� he said.

He gathered input from key lawmakers, and delivered suggestions to the Senate. Then, Wednesday evening, the a new version of on full-time virtual schools.

The House passed this second bill, with the fixes, after approving the larger education package.

Although the bill has measures to boost teacher salaries and school-district funding, Democrats had concerns. Many focused on the estimated cost.

鈥淭his is a bill that has some great, shiny things that we like in exchange for some really bad (things),鈥� said House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat. 鈥淏ut as we鈥檝e talked about, the real problem with this bill is the amount of money we have.鈥�

Democrats from Boone County also spoke against the addition of charter schools in their community.

State Rep. David Tyson Smith, a Democrat from Columbia, called the bill 鈥減oison鈥� to Boone County.

鈥淥ur schools are accredited. We don鈥檛 need this bill,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are hanging on by a razor鈥檚 edge financially already. You bring charter schools into Boone County, which is what this bill specifically does, and it hurts us.鈥�

As the final votes rolled in and the bill鈥檚 passage was assured, Koenig sat on the House dais, smiling as the bill he has called his top legislative priority made it across the finish line.

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