The Missouri House and Senate gave final approval this week to a balanced state operating budget Thursday afternoon. House Budget Chairman Rick Stream, R-Kirkwood, said the $24.8 billion budget is balanced in accordance with the plan outlined by Gov. Jay Nixon in January. In his budget proposal outlined during the annual State of the State Address, Nixon called on the legislature to pass three pieces of legislation — elimination of property tax credit for renters, tax amnesty and streamlined sales tax — that would raise approximately $119 million in additional revenues. The Missouri House gave final approval Thursday to SB 350, which eliminates the credit for renters, and HB 253, which contains tax amnesty and the streamlined sales tax for online purchases. Stream said it is now the governor’s responsibility to follow through with the plan he proposed by signing SB 350 and HB 253, as well as the budget bills, into law. He noted that the budget plan approved by the General Assembly contains a funding mechanism for the First Steps Program that relies on the passage of SB 350. “The only thing standing in the way of First Steps receiving the funding they need is the governor’s signature on Senate Bill 350 — a bill that the governor’s office authored and provided to the legislature,” Stream remarked.