JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Legislative budget leaders plan to try to override about 50 line-item budget vetoes, despite new doubts from the attorney general about their authority to do so.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Kurt Schaefer and House Budget Chairman Rick Stream say they plan to hold individual votes on about 50 of the 136 vetoed budget sections during a session that starts Wednesday. They're targeting about $40 million of general revenue spending, including for sexual assault victims, reading instruction in struggling school districts and defibrillators on state water patrol boats.
Gov. Jay Nixon had vetoed the measures while citing concerns about the state's finances.
Attorney General Chris Koster's office says that a strict reading of the Missouri Constitution would not allow the Legislature to override line-item vetoes during its September session.
