Lawmakers approve budget relying on several bills that aren't yet laws

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Intro:	Lawmakers in the state Capitol say they have decided on a budget for next year, but it may be a house built on sand.
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Wrap: Republican lawmakers say their budget is balanced, but their counting on millions of dollars from the repeal of a renter's tax credit -- and that bill hasn't passed yet.

Governor Jay Nixon initially supported the bill, but has said in recent weeks that he plans to veto it unless it becomes part of a larger reform package.

Columbia Tribune reporter Rudi Keller tried to ask why the budget was being balanced on the backs of poor renters. But Republican Senator Kurt Schaefer says voters sent them here to make decisions just like this.

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Description: "Well there's 105,000 people who are vitally interested, probably in that tax credit-" "And you know what they do Rudi? They elect those representatives and they elect those Senators," "Alright we're done, we're done."

The budget must be on the Governor's desk by Friday.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Alex Mallin.

Intro:	Budget leaders in the state Capitol have decided on a final version of the state budget, it includes steep cuts to the Department of Revenue over its controversial new licensing procedure.
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Wrap: The Senate's budget leader has made continual threats to strip the DMV of its budget. But in a joint budget committee lawmakers agreed to give them eight months of funding to keep issuing driver's licenses.

Republican Sen. Kurt Schaefer says it's a good compromise.

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Description: "We've made it very clear what we think they have the legal authority to do, what we think they should be doing and not doing for citizens of the state of Missouri. And so we'll give them 8 months of funding and if they don't follow through on that then we'll reevaluate that in supplemental."

Both the Senate and House have passed bills banning the further scanning of documents at license bureaus. Governor Jay Nixon also made a similar call last month.

The budget must now be approved by both chambers before heading to the Governor by the Friday deadline.

Reporting from the state capitol, I'm Alex Mallin.

Intro:	Budget leaders in the state Capitol say they have a balanced budget for next year, but when pressed by reporters why most decisions were made behind closed doors, the elected officials fled the scene.
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Wrap: Lawmakers have all but finalized their budget. It includes steep cuts to the Department of Revenue after the licensing scandal earlier this year.

But millions of dollars for that budget come from some bills that have yet to pass.

Lawmakers say they have a budget that satisfies both the House and Senate, which House Budget Chairman Rick Stream says is most important.

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Description: This is my seventh conference committee, it's the smoothest its been and I'm not taking any credit for it its just we've worked very hard to satisfy the needs of the members of both chambers."

Reporters asked whether lawmakers should have focused more on their constituents, but lawmakers replied voters sent them here to make decisions just like this.

The budget has to reach the governor's desk by Friday.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Alex Mallin.