The Senate has completed work on seven of the thirteen budget bills ( HB 2001 , HB 2002 , HB 2003 , HB 2004 , HB 2005 , HB 2006 , HB 2007 ) and has done so with only minor differences. One of those differences involved an amendment to the bill funding a number of departments including the Department of Labor.
Senator Chris Koster (D-Raymore) proposed an amendment to help the department crack down on illegal workers. The proposal called for $800,000 to be spent to address this concern.
Several Senators spoke out against the proposed expenditure. Among them, Senator Matt Bartle (R-Lee’s Summit), who says the state cannot afford to spend money of this kind during tough economic times. In the end, the amendment was defeated on a 30-4 vote.
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