Senate passes its budget after marathon session debating controversial items

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Intro:	The Senate's budget passed at 4 a.m. Wednesday morning included a provision denying undocumented immigrants the opportunity at in-state tuition
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Wrap: St. Louis County Democratic Senator Jill Schupp offered an amendment to open the door to allow undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition during the Senate budget debate Tuesday night.

She said the language in the bill was cruel and that it denied immigrants opportunities.

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Description: "I think the purpose is really to deny people whose families came here as undocumented immigrants, to deny them the opportunities that we want for our very own children."

Schupp received support from her fellow Democratic senators, but the amendment failed to pass on a voice vote.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Steven Anthony.

Intro:	Republican senators faced off during a budget debate Tuesday night over cuts to mental health and overall welfare spending
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Wrap: St. Joseph Republican Senator Rob Schaaf took Senate Appropriations chairman Kurt Schaefer to task for his budget that cut mental health services such as psychiatric hospitals and developmentally disabled services.

Schaaf then offered an amendment to keep some program's funding the same as this year.

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Description: "When I think about the psych hospitals, the [re]hab centers, the developmentally disabled and the community mental health centers, those are the four that really I just cannot... I cannot walk out of this building tonight without having made an effort to make them whole."

Schaaf's amendment failed on a voice vote and the overall bill was passed by a 23-10 vote.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Steven Anthony.

Intro:	A debate over health care and Medicaid resulted in a more than 5 hour long filibuster from the Senate's only two doctors Wednesday morning.
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Wrap: Senators Rob Schaaf and Bob Onder launched a filibuster Tuesday night over their objections to a Medicaid managed care system that would be expanded statewide in the Senate's budget.

Onder expressed concern about expanding the system to rural Missouri.

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Description: "We're talking about an expansion of Medicaid managed care to our most rural parts of the state where where we don't have well-established provider networks and where we already have a serious shortage of health care practioners."

Onder's amendment to prevent a statewide expansion was never voted on because Senator Kurt Schaefer offered an amendment to change the mechanics of the managed care system and the Senate agreed to that amendment.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Steven Anthony.