The Missouri House of Representatives passed a $47.9 billion state budget on Thursday.

The budget features $8 billion for K-12 education, including more than $4 billion in core funding for schools. House Republican leaders touted the $200 million increase in funding for this year over last year, one of the largest increases in recent history.

Budget chair Rep. Dirk Deaton (R-Seneca) also praised the $50 million the state put into the MO Scholars program, which offers state tax credits to people who donate to nonprofit educational organizations.

“We have fully funded the provisions of last year’s education bill (SB 727), and we have invested a historic $50 million into MO Scholars, ensuring a high-quality education for all Missouri families and students,” Deaton said in an emailed statement on Thursday. “Our budget also provides more money for higher education to continue training and growing our state workforce of tomorrow.”

Democratic lawmakers criticized the expenditure, saying it took general revenue funds away from public education. State lawmakers did not include full funding of the formula this year, a move Gov. Mike Kehoe signaled in his State of the State address .

"It is unfortunate that we are taking 50 million in taxpayer dollars and funding private schools through the voucher program, but we are not fully funding the foundation formula for public schools," Rep. David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia) told ABC 17 News on Thursday.

The budget also includes $512 million for the University of Missouri for operations, an increase of $3 million.

The House budget also includes a nearly 7% raise for Missouri State Highway Patrol workers. Lawmakers also kicked in an extra $1 million for the state's popular law enforcement training academy scholarship program, bringing the program total to $3 million if approved.

State senators will next take up the budget for debate and approval.