PIERRE - The South Dakota Senate has endorsed a plan to restore the $2 million that Gov. Mike Rounds wants to cut from the state Highway Patrol budget.

The bill's main sponsor, Sen. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls, says the Highway Patrol's budget should not be cut. Abdallah says if the governor is allowed to cut the agency's budget, arrests will decrease for drugs, drunken driving and other crimes.

Rounds proposed to cut the Highway Patrol budget because of a shortage of money in the fund that holds state motor fuel taxes. Nearly all the agency's budget is funded by the fuel tax.

Senators voted 31-2 to pass the bill, which next goes to the House of Representatives.