(Missouri Independent) – Penalties that Spire Missouri issued to suppliers who failed to provide natural gas during a February cold snap that forced power outages across the Midwest could drive bills for hospitals, schools, and businesses to astronomical levels, according to a trio of complaints pending before state regulators. During the worst of the cold snap in February, […]
Tag: bills
North Mercer Board of Education approves budget amendments
The North Mercer R-3 Board of Education approved budget amendments for 2020-2021 and adopted the 2021-2022 budget on June 14th. Secretary Jennifer Wilson reports revenues for 2020-2021 were down $9,396 at $3,159,279. Expenditures were up $38,609 at $3,169,588. That left a deficit of $10,309. The board approved the transfer of $100,000 from Fund 1 to […]
Trenton City Council informed 17th Street Bridge to open by late June or July 4th weekend
Work is progressing on the 17th Street Bridge project in Trenton with City Administrator Ron Urton telling the council Monday night that if weather conditions allow, he anticipates the new bridge can be opened by late this month or by the July 4th weekend. In his report, Urton noted base rock and curbing have been placed […]
Missouri lawmakers passed a host of reforms aimed at keeping kids out of jail
(Missouri Independent) – Retired St. Louis Judge Evelyn Baker once sentenced a 16-year-old Black boy to 241 years in prison for two armed robberies. No one was seriously injured in the robberies, but the boy “didn’t express any remorse,” Baker said, remembering the sentencing hearing. Now, when she thinks back, Baker deeply regrets the sentence […]
Vicky Hartzler makes it official, joining 2022 Missouri GOP Senate primary
(Missouri Independent) – Vicky Hartzler made her entry into the 2022 U.S. Senate race official Thursday, kicking off her campaign at a firearms store surrounded by supporters. One day before Republicans gather in Kansas City for their annual Lincoln Days meetings, Hartzler said her experience in Congress will make her the best candidate over the […]
Governor Parson signs SCR7 and HB 574 into law
Governor Mike Parson signed SCR 7 and HB 574 into law. “I am happy to sign these two pieces of legislation into law, and I want to give a special thank you to Senator Dan Hegeman, Representative Rusty Black, Senator Jeanie Riddle, and Representative Kent Haden for their respective work on these bills,” Governor Parson […]
Attorney General says Missouri lawmakers can refuse to fund Medicaid expansion
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri lawmakers were not obligated to fund Medicaid expansion, and the courts cannot force the state to pay the medical bills of people who would be eligible under an initiative that amended the state constitution, the state attorney general’s office argued in documents filed Monday in Cole County Circuit Court. The filing from Attorney […]
Filibusted: Experts say the time has come to end Senate practice
(Missouri Independent) – Even the stuffy, florid name of the procedure, “filibuster” sounds like something conceived around a table of wig-wearing Founding Fathers. While the name has its roots in the 18th Century (with pirates nonetheless), the concept and practice in the United States Senate is much younger, not being implemented in a modern form until […]
Missouri, Kansas utilities may use loophole to charge customers for fossil fuel lobbying
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri and Kansas residents’ utility bills may be helping to bankroll the energy sector lobbying against policies aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Federal and state rules prohibit utility companies from passing their lobbying costs on to customers through bills. But in both Kansas and Missouri, utilities like Evergy, Ameren, and Spire […]
Evergy files application to adjust charge on customer bills
Evergy Missouri West and Evergy Metro have filed applications with the Missouri Public Service Commission to adjust the demand-side investment mechanism charge on customer bills. The charge appears as a separate line item on customer bills. It allows Every Missouri West and Evergy Missouri Metro to recover demand-side management program costs and incentives under the […]
Audio: Missouri could join 49 other states by improving access to mental health services
In 2008, Congress passed and then-President George W. Bush signed into law a bill requiring health insurance companies to cover mental health the same as any other health problems. Thirteen years after the measure became law, Missouri is the only state not yet enforcing that law. Two bills pass this year would ban insurance companies […]
Gallatin Board of Aldermen approve setting electric rates
The Gallatin Board of Aldermen this week approved an ordinance and resolution regarding the setting of electric rates. City Clerk Hattie Rains reports the ordinance authorized the city, going forward, to use a resolution instead of an ordinance to set electric rates. The resolution changed the electric rates for citizens and businesses. The rates will […]
Medicaid provider taxes imperiled as compromise on abortion issues eludes lawmakers
(Missouri Independent) – The pathway to renewing provider taxes essential to funding Medicaid before Missouri lawmakers adjourn for the year became much narrower when issues raised by abortion opponents forced removal of the taxes from a health care bill. When a conference committee met to work out differences between the House and Senate on the bill, […]
Audio: Key bills passed in the final day or days of the Missouri Legislature’s session
Another session of the Missouri Legislature has come and gone. Of the 1,559 House bills and 689 Senate bills filed this time around, 69 bills will make it to Gov. Mike Parson’s desk. Here are some key bills left up to the governor to sign or veto: Missouri lawmakers vote to pump up […]
Bill to speed Evergy and Ameren’s move to clean energy wins Missouri legislative approval
Legislation that would allow Missouri utility companies to speed their transition to renewable energy is on its way to Gov. Mike Parson’s desk just a day before the General Assembly’s session ends. The Missouri House voted 146-1 Thursday in favor of a policy — also adopted earlier this year in Kansas — that would allow utility providers, like […]
Missouri lawmakers pass bill limiting local health orders, banning vaccine passports
(Missouri Independent) – As the state of Missouri battles its second year of the novel coronavirus’ spread, lawmakers on Wednesday sent to the governor’s desk a bill that aims to rein in local public health orders and ban vaccine passports. The provisions were included in House Bill 271, which deals with local government transparency. It grew […]
Abortion fight continues on Missouri Medicaid provider taxes
An attempt to renew a law essential to financing Missouri’s Medicaid program drew fire late Monday from a state Senator who wants to bar Planned Parenthood from participating in the program and an anti-abortion group seeking to block access to contraceptives. A renewal of the taxes that provide more than $2 billion annually for Medicaid was added […]
Missourians join call to pass John Lewis Voting Rights Act
Missouri voting-rights advocates joined a national call to action Saturday to promote the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act. The Lewis Act would require states with a history of voter discrimination to get approval from the Justice Department before making legal changes to voting rules. Julie Steiger, co-president of the League of […]