Panel cuts funds for licensing protocols

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Senate's budget-writing panel has slashed funding from a proposed state budget to stop new driver's licenses procedures.

The Senate Appropriations Committee removed $6 million from the budget Wednesday in an effort to prevent the Revenue Department from scanning driving applicants' documents, such as birth certificates. It also took away an additional $2.7 million, which committee members say would be used to pay the state's licensing vendor.

Panel members say the cuts will remain until they have received answers from the department and other state agencies about whether the scanned documents are being shared with the federal government. Republican lawmakers have called the protocols an invasion of privacy, while the department says it provides enhanced security.