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JEFFERSON CITY — The ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ House and Senate on Thursday were headed for a showdown over whether to inject millions of taxpayer dollars into a program funding private school tuition.

Following a request from Gov. Mike Kehoe, the House’s budget plan calls for a $50 million infusion for the MOScholars program, which is currently designed to run off of tax credit-eligible donations.

But many Senate Republicans and Democrats opposed the funding, and direct spending on private religious schools is currently barred by the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Constitution.

In approving its own budget this week, the Senate stripped out all $50 million — setting up the upcoming budget fight.

The deadline for sending the budget to Kehoe is next Friday. Next week, a group of House-Senate conference committees will meet to work out differences between the chambers.

“I want to keep and hold as many of those Senate positions as we can,� said Senate Appropriations Chair Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, on Thursday. “I’m sure there will be discussion about a number of things — that included.�

The conference committees are made up of three Republicans from each chamber and two Democrats from each chamber.

House Speaker Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, on Thursday named state Rep. Marlene Terry, D-north St. Louis County, to the committee that will discuss whether to spend the $50 million on the MOScholars program.

Unlike most Democrats, Terry voted for the expansion of the MOScholars program in 2024, which took the voucher program statewide and increased income limits for participants.

“I want Representative Terry to fight for school kids in the best way that she knows how. I think she is supportive of that,� he said of the $50 million for MOScholars. “I have not asked her directly.�

Patterson also appointed Terry to the conference committee on the state’s K-12 education budget, noting that he had earlier named Terry to a panel tasked with evaluating and updating the school funding foundation formula.

“I put Marlene Terry on the committee because she’s also on the foundation modernization task force,� Patterson said. “I think it fits. She’s working on foundation formula.�

Terry, who was a member of the Riverview Gardens school board for nine years, said Thursday she did not ask to be on the committee and was unclear why she was appointed.

“Everybody knows I care about children,� Terry said. “I’m going to do whatever is right for children.�

“To me, all children matter. I’m a supporter of a good education, no matter where they get it,� Terry said.

Not all Democrats were happy with the move.

Rep. Betsy Fogle, a Springfield Democrat who is the top minority party member on the House Budget Committee, said the speaker’s office communicated Wednesday that Patterson didn’t plan to accept the minority party’s recommendations on budget conference committee members, a break with past practice.

“Typically, especially when it comes to the Budget Committee, our recommendations are taken because we understand that there are hundreds if not thousands of hours that go into crafting a budget,� Fogle said. “She (Terry) doesn’t serve on budget (committee), so to me I think that is an anomaly and a flag.�

House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, said Fogle had previously spoken about “how much bipartisanship and respect� went into the budget this year.

“So to come down to the very end of this process and feel disrespected at the end is a huge disappointment,� Aune said.

Another sticking point in the $50 billion spending blueprint is roughly $300 million the Senate inserted to fully fund the state’s education foundation formula.

Hough said the increased cost is due to last year’s passage of a sweeping education measure that included the statewide voucher program expansion.

“If we’re going to pass legislation ... we should probably pay the bill when it comes due,� Hough said.