U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act, new legislation to take back control from big business and return it to the American people. Senator Hawley’s bill will crack down on mergers and acquisitions by mega-corporations and strengthen antitrust enforcement to pursue the breakup of dominant, anticompetitive firms. Senator Hawley […]
Tag: billion
Audio: Missouri Association of School Nurses hopes latest federal aid for schools will go toward hiring nurses
The U.S. Department of Education says Missouri’s K-12 schools will get 1.95-billion total dollars in federal aid from the latest coronavirus plan. Linda Neumann, with the Missouri Association of School Nurses, hopes the state’s school districts will consider using some of the federal funding to hire school nurses. Neumann tells Missourinet a 2020 state Education […]
Biden Administration to suggest model ‘red flag’ gun laws for states
(Missouri Independent) – The Department of Justice will distribute model “red flag” legislation to states so they can enact laws that would allow courts to temporarily remove a firearm from an individual who is distressed, according to senior Biden administration officials. “The president will not wait for Congress to act before the administration takes our […]
Bill would add $1 billion to Missouri spending, revise Medicaid payment system
(Missouri Independent) – The biggest item in a $1 billion supplemental spending bill would set aside money for a new method of making Medicaid payments, but exactly how it would work or how much it would cost is unknown. The House Budget Committee on Tuesday held a public hearing on the bill that would also […]
Audio: Missouri Senate Education Committee Chair wants community colleges to get more core funding
The Missouri Legislature is making its way through the state budget process. Shelbina State Senator Cindy O’Laughlin says she would like Missouri’s community colleges to get an increase in core funding from the state. O’Laughlin is the chair of the Senate Education Committee. O’Laughlin, of northeast Missouri’s Shelbina, uses Moberly Area Community College […]
Audio: Missouri draws billions in federal contracts, 8th in nation, boosting growth
A new report by the University of Missouri Extension shows Missouri-based firms received $15.1 billion in prime federal contracts in the federal fiscal year 2019. Researcher Mark White led the study. The NGA construction project in St Louis City is another large contract for Missouri and White says federal money boosts smaller firms […]
USDA announces funding available to assist socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency announces the availability of $2 million to establish partnerships with organizations to provide outreach and technical assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. The funding was made possible by USDA’s new Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, an effort to distribute resources more broadly and to put greater […]
Audio: Missouri House signs off on budget to include bigger pay raise for some corrections jobs
The Missouri House has passed a 34-point-one billion-dollar state operating budget that includes a big pay raise for some hard-to-fill Department of Corrections jobs. On top of the requested two-percent salary boost for all state workers, some Corrections food service workers, officers, sergeants, and lieutenants would get anywhere from a nearly six percent to an […]
Audio: Missouri’s Senate President expects PDMP to receive final approval this week; state budget to get attention
Missouri’s Senate leader says the state operating budget will get a lot of attention in his chamber during the next five weeks. The House has approved a 34-billion dollar budget, that does NOT include funding for Medicaid expansion. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (pronounced like shots) notes the budget now heads to the Senate. […]
Missouri State Treasurer to host free webinar about saving and paying for higher education
In partnership with Sallie Mae and the MOST 529 Education Plan, Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick will host a webinar focused on providing information about saving for higher education and finding scholarship opportunities. How to Find Free Money and Save for College will take place on Wednesday, April 7 at 6 p.m. “Helping Missourians make […]
Audio: Missouri could soon wipe out the debt it owes to counties for housing inmates
Missouri could soon wipe out the debt it owes to counties for housing inmates. State House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith says the House has passed a 34-point-one billion-dollar state operating budget that would get Missouri completely out of debt in county jail reimbursements. Missouri could be the only state in the nation that pays […]
Audio: Will the Missouri Senate back the House’s attempt to defund Medicaid expansion? Senate President Dave Schatz weighs in
The Missouri House has passed the next state operating budget – without funding voter-approved Medicaid expansion. The $34.1 billion budget plan is now in the hands of the Republican-controlled Senate. Missouri Senate President Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, gives his thoughts to Missourinet affiliate KTUI in Sullivan about whether he expects the upper chamber to fund the expansion. […]
Missouri House plan to reject Medicaid expansion faces uncertain fate in the Senate
(Missouri Independent) – Republicans in the Missouri House finalized their plan to block funding for voter-approved Medicaid expansion on Thursday, giving final approval to its version of the state’s budget and sending it to the Senate. What happens next remains unclear. House Democratic Leader Crystal Quade said she’s confident the Senate will restore the $1.9 […]
Audio: Jesus’ name invoked by both parties as Missouri House approves $34 billion budget, without Medicaid expansion
After a heated floor debate that included numerous biblical references, the Missouri House voted Thursday afternoon to give final approval to a $34.1 billion state operating budget. The House budget does not contain funding for Medicaid expansion. The operating budget now heads to the Missouri Senate, and Medicaid expansion supporters hope senators will include the […]
Biden to unveil $2 trillion plan to rebuild infrastructure, move to clean energy
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden on Wednesday will unveil a nearly $2 trillion infrastructure package to rebuild highways and bridges, along with funding programs for housing, broadband, and schools and increasing U.S. manufacturing jobs over the next eight years, an administration official told reporters on Tuesday night. Alongside the expansive infrastructure plan, the president will […]
Audio: Governor Parson responds to House’s effort to block Medicaid expansion funding
The Republican-controlled Missouri House has given initial approval to defunding a Medicaid expansion effort approved by voters last year. The chamber could vote to use the governor’s one-point-nine billion dollar budget request for the expansion to instead help seniors in nursing homes, the developmentally disabled, and expand mental health programs, among other things. Here is […]
Missouri farm income saw large increase in 2020 despite pandemic
Large government payments helped 2020 Missouri net farm income match or exceed the 2014 record of $3.4 billion, according to Abigail Meffert, senior research associate with the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI). Missouri’s outlook falls in line with the U.S. Agricultural Market Outlook, a summary of 10-year baseline projections presented […]
Audio: Missouri Legislature to tackle state budget and prescription drug monitoring program This Week
The state operating budget and prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) legislation will take center stage in the Missouri Legislature this week. Governor Parson has proposed a 34-billion dollar state operating budget. Missouri House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith of Carthage tells Missourinet that he hopes to see the House give initial and final […]
More charges announced against Missouri lawmaker after indictment for $900,000 COVID-19 fraud scheme
Additional charges have been returned by a federal grand jury against an elected Missouri state representative for a nearly $900,000 COVID-19 fraud scheme, following her indictment last month for a separate fraud scheme in which she made false claims about a supposed stem cell treatment marketed through her clinics in southern Missouri, and for illegally […]
Audio: Missouri House Budget Committee votes against funding for Medicaid expansion in next budget cycle
The Missouri House Budget Committee has voted against funding for Medicaid expansion in the next fiscal year. The committee, made up of mostly Republicans, has voted down 1.6-billion dollars in funding for Medicaid expansion in the next state budget cycle. Last year, 53-percent of Missouri voters approved a ballot measure to expand government-funded […]