The State House has endorsed supplemental budget proposal that includes half of the amount Governor Jay Nixon (D) proposed for K-12 education and money to keep the doors open at a St. Louis-area school district for the rest of the school year.

House Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stream (R-Kirkwood) added on the floor an amendment to provide $22-million dollars for the foundation funding formula for K-12 education to cover a shortfall partly due to casino tax revenues. Governor Nixon had proposed $44-million. Stream says he has made a commitment that the $22-million difference will be included in his proposed Fiscal Year 2015 budget.

The bill also includes $5-million dollars for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to be used in the Normandy School District. Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro had testified to the House Budget Committee that Normandy is projected to go bankrupt this month, which would cause the State Board of Education to have to assign its 5,000 students to other districts or develop another plan for to provide for their education.

See our story on DESE asking the House Budget Committee for money for Normandy

Another favorable vote would send the proposal to the Senate.

The supplemental budget is HB 2014.