TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers advanced a plan Tuesday to provide hundreds of millions of dollars to Kansas businesses hurt by coronavirus pandemic restrictions, and they're poised to give GOP leaders the final say over how the federal COVID-19 relief funds are spent.

The Republican-controlled state Senate approved, 26-13, a bill that would dedicate nearly $350 million in coronavirus relief funds for the state and another $350 million for cities and counties to compensate small businesses that were forced to shut down last spring because of the pandemic or had their operations restri...