A House-Senate conference committee on tax cuts broke up Wednesday night after the House Speaker was accused of bigotry for opposing tax deductions for private and parochical school costs. Before the committee is the governor's proposal to reduce the sales tax on groceries. But the Senate is demanding that the bill include a deduction for the costs parents pay for primary and secondary education costs. When the House Speaker repeated his opposition to that idea, a Senate member accused him of bigotry for not supporting Catholic children. Our radio story with digital audio .
Lawmakers send the governor a ban on partial-birth abortions.
Missouri's House went past midnight debating and then passing by an overwhelming margin a measure that would ban all partial birth abortions. The bill now goes to the governor who twice in past years have vetoed abortion-restriction measures. See the House roll call . Lawmakers send the governor legislation to regulate managed care. Both the House and Senate sponsors called it the most significant bill of the 1997 session.