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JEFFERSON CITY — A Senate panel Wednesday gutted Gov. Mike Kehoe’s bid to use Missouri tax dollars to fund a private school voucher program.

In a preliminary review of the spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1, the Senate Appropriations Committee stripped out $50 million that the Republican governor is seeking for the MOScholars program.

The move sets up a showdown in the final month of the legislative session with the Republican-controlled House, which previously sided with Kehoe on the issue.

But Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, said he doesn’t believe private schools should be financed with public dollars.

“I want to make sure we’re fully funding our obligation to public schools before we start spending tens of millions of general revenue dollars on private schools,� Hough said.

Sen. Karla May, D-ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, who sits on the Senate budget panel, agreed with Hough’s assessment.

“I support the chairman’s decision,� May said. “I think we’re a better state when we educate our kids.�

The four-year-old program currently to qualified students for the current school year. It runs off of private donations that are eligible for tax credits.

The program, however, has struggled to raise donations, prompting calls by school choice advocates, including Senate President Cindy O’Laughlin, for a taxpayer-funded bailout.

Using public funds for private religious schools is currently barred by the Missouri Constitution, though the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 struck down a similar restriction in Maine, placing Missouri’s ban in doubt.

Efforts by Democrats to block the expense failed in the House Budget Committee earlier. Among their concerns is private schools do not have to accept students that have special needs. They also decry spending public dollars for tuition at religious schools.

Supporters dismiss the constitutional concerns, saying the money would not be given directly to private schools. Rather, the money would be administered by the state treasurer’s office.

The move to strike the money from the budget of state Treasurer Vivek Malek is the second significant rejection of Kehoe’s education funding proposal by the Senate panel in two days.

On Tuesday, Senate budget writers included nearly $300 million more in education spending than recommended by Kehoe in his budget outline. The money, which was not included in the House budget plan, will fully fund the state foundation formula.

The formula, which is used to distribute money to the state’s local school districts, is based on a calculation showing per pupil spending should be $7,145 per year, up from the $6,760 level under Kehoe’s request.

In choosing to short the money, Kehoe issued an executive order in January calling for a rewrite of the formula. The Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force will be comprised of lawmakers, teachers, school administrators and school choice advocates.

“(A) comprehensive review by a diverse group of stakeholders is necessary to achieve a sustainable, equitable, and fair funding model,� the order reads.

Hough said the state can afford the added expense because it currently has a surplus of more than $2 billion.

“It would be one thing if we were totally broke,� Hough said. “I think it’s an obligation we have especially when we have money in the bank.�

A final report on the formula is due in December 2026.

The governor, who took office in January, has actively promoted his plan for the MOScholars money, including appearing in an ad paid for by the American Federation for Children.

“I was raised by a single mother, and I watched her struggle to put me through a private school because it was the best learning environment for me,� said Kehoe, who graduated from Chaminade College Preparatory School in 1979.

“Now, I want to help all Missouri parents provide the education that meets every child’s individual learning needs,� he says in the ad.

When first approved, MOScholars was limited to larger cities and counties as a concession to rural lawmakers.

But the expansion then-Gov. Mike Parson signed into law last year takes the program statewide and raises current household income limits on participation starting in the 2025-26 school year.

Currently, about 2,600 students are covered by the program.

The full Senate is on track to begin voting on the state’s overall $52 billion spending blueprint at the end of April, setting up negotiations with the House for a final version that will go to Kehoe’s desk by May 9.