SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A plan to provide preschool programs for children in low-income families passed the state Senate on Thursday. But it represents a proposal that is far less than what its author had originally intended.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, modified his original $1 billion-plus proposal for universal preschool, which would have made the program available to all California children. His revised SB837 would still offer pre-kindergarten to more than 234,000 children, nearly half of all 4-year-olds in California, he said.