News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup

Missouri lawmakers have approved a complex financing package for the state's two largest cities that is expected to jump-start long-stalled efforts to end St. Louis' 26-year-old desegregation case.

The legislation would insulate St. Louis from the loss of much of its court-ordered desegregation subsidies and allow its extensive city-to-suburb transfer program to continue for at least six years. Some of the funding would be contingent, however, on voters' approval of...