(Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler photo courtesy U.S. House of Representatives website)

Audio: U.S. Representative Hartzler trying to change rules to “benefit Missouri’s cattle industry”

Missouri Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler says Missouri’s cattle industry needs more markets and competition. The Missouri Republican has teamed with a California Democrat to introduce a bill that the two lawmakers say will fix regulatory roadblocks that hurt livestock auctions and small meat packers. The “A-PLUS” Act would amend the Packers and Stockyards Act to allow […]

Marijuana Trafficking News Graphic

Missouri man who was arrested after an armed standoff with police pleads guilty to marijuana trafficking

A Missouri man pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally possessing a firearm following a brief armed standoff with police officers. Jamahl D. Jones, 35, Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to one count of possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute, one count of possessing a firearm in relation […]

Photo of handgun and ammunition (Photo by Thomas Def on Unsplash)

Department of Justice rule cracks down untraceable firearms known as ‘ghost guns’

(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden Monday unveiled the Department of Justice’s plan to regulate untraceable firearms known as ghost guns, as well as announced his nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The Department of Justice’s final rule bans the business of manufacturing ghost guns, such as “buy build shoot” kits […]

Yard signs for GOP Senate candidates greet Republicans attending Boone County Lincoln Days Friday in Columbia (Rudi Keller - Missouri Independent)

No signs of support for Greitens in Missouri county where abuse charges will be heard

(Missouri Independent) –  A smattering of giggles greeted the name of former Gov. Eric Greitens Friday evening when emcee Branden Rathert called for the U.S. Senate candidates invited to speak at Boone County Republican Lincoln Days to come forward. Up to that point, there had been no trace of Greitens or his campaign at the […]

Branson Duck Boat

Audio: U.S. Senator Josh Hawley says duck boat safety law must happen

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley spoke to Missourinet after a judge dropped the criminal charges in the 2018 deadly duck boat tragedy in Branson.     Senator Hawley was Missouri’s attorney general when the amphibious craft capsized during severe weather on Table Rock Lake killing seventeen people.  In one of his first official duties in Congress, […]

Budget Graphic

Record Missouri surplus likely to grow under $46.5B House budget plan

(Missouri Independent) – The biggest state budget in Missouri history could also leave the biggest surplus in state history when the next fiscal year ends. The Missouri House on Thursday sent 15 appropriation bills to the state Senate, one supplemental spending bill for the current fiscal year, and 14 spending $46.5 billion in the coming year. The […]

Student Loan graphic

Pause on federal student loan repayments extended by Biden through August 31

(Missouri Independent) – The Biden administration Wednesday announced its plans to extend the pause on federal student loan repayments until the end of August. “I recognized in recently extending the COVID-19 national emergency, we are still recovering from the pandemic and the unprecedented economic disruption it caused,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.  “If loan […]

Democrats block Hawley’s bill to get tough on child sex offenders

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) went to the Senate Floor on Tuesday to call for unanimous consent to pass his “Protect Act of 2022” which protects children from sexual exploitation by enhancing the penalties for possessing child pornography and preventing judges from sentencing offenders below federal guidelines. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) objected and blocked the […]

Combine and farm tractor with wagon in field

Coalition of legislators introduce resolution to protect family farms and small businesses

Congressman Sam Graves (MO-06) joined Representatives Tracey Mann, Jason Smith, Bob Latta, and a bipartisan coalition of more than 70 members of Congress in introducing a resolution recognizing the important role of the stepped-up basis in preserving family farms and small businesses. “If the President gets his way and guts the stepped-up basis, it would […]

A gavel and a name plate with the engraving Lawsuit

Missouri, Arizona and Louisiana sue Biden administration for rescinding Title 42

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry are suing the Biden Administration for rescinding the public health policy, Title 42, during the worst border crisis in decades. The revocation will result in an unprecedented crisis at the United States southern border that will have a devastating […]

Man with fingers through fence also immigration or immigrants

Biden administration to halt pandemic policy blocking migrants who claim asylum

(Missouri Independent) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that the government will terminate a Trump-era policy that prevented migrants from claiming asylum during a health crisis, including the coronavirus pandemic. The policy will end on May 23, the CDC wrote in its notice. “There is no longer a serious danger that the […]

Marijuana leaf

U.S. House votes to decriminalize marijuana in federal law

(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. House passed legislation Friday to legalize marijuana nationally, but its future is much less clear in the Senate. The House voted 220-204 to approve the measure, which would fix the split between federal law and 19 states where recreational marijuana is legal. Three Republicans joined all but two Democrats in approving the measure. […]

Gas Pumps News Graphic (Photo via Envato Elements)

Biden OKs release of 1 million barrels of oil a day from reserve, calls for supply boost

(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden called Thursday for U.S. energy companies to do their part in lowering gasoline prices by boosting supplies of oil, saying the industry should plow record profits back into increased production. Biden also said he would release 1 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve daily for the […]

Josh Hawley Courtesy of Missourinet

Hawley introduces “PROTECT Act of 2022” which will toughen sentences for child porn offenders

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the PROTECT Act of 2022, which protects children from sexual exploitation by enhancing the penalties for possessing child pornography and by preventing judges from sentencing offenders below federal guidelines. The bill is co-sponsored by Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). Representative Ken Buck (CO-4) is […]

Drinking Water Fountain (Photo by Sean Musil on Unsplash)

Missouri House bill would cut down on poisonous lead in school drinking water

(Missouri Independent) – Missouri children would be better protected from lead poisoning under a state legislative bill to require schools to nearly rid their drinking water of the dangerous toxin. The bill, heard Monday by the House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, would require schools to test drinking water, remove old coolers and filter water where […]

Commodity Credit Corporation (USDA) website

USDA and Commodity Credit Corporation expect no purchases or sales of sugar under Feedstock Flexibility Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Commodity Credit Corporation announced today that it does not expect to purchase and sell sugar under the Feedstock Flexibility Program for crop year 2021, which runs until Sept. 30, 2022. The CCC is required by law to quarterly announce estimates of sugar to be purchased and sold under the Feedstock […]

Representative Dan Shaul and chair of house special committee on Redristricting (photo courtesy Tim Bommel - Missouri House Communications

Missouri Senate congressional redistricting plan stalls on return to the House

(Missouri Independent) – Missouri House members are not ready to accept the congressional redistricting map approved by the state Senate. The House met Monday without voting on the Senate plan, approved Thursday at the end of a Senate session that lasted almost 24 hours. State Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial and chairman of the House Redistricting Committee, […]

United States Supreme Court (Phot credit Laura Olson - States Newsroom)

Supreme Court to hear case against Proposition 12 by National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation

The U.S. Supreme Court at its Mar. 25 conference agreed to hear a case brought by the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation against California’s Proposition 12, which bans the sale of pork from hogs born to sows that weren’t raised according to the state’s “arbitrary” production standards. “We are extremely […]

Audio: Karl Rove denies Greitens allegations he and McConnell orchestrated plan to get Greitens out of Senate race

U.S. Senate candidate and former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens says GOP consultant, Karl Rove, knew in advance his ex-wife was going to accuse him of physical abuse. Greitens says Rove and allies of Republican U.S. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell were in on a campaign to drive him from the race since Greitens opposes McConnell being […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson photo courtesy Wikipedia

Senate winds up grueling Supreme Court hearings on Ketanji Brown Jackson nomination

(Missouri Independent) –  Representatives of the American Bar Association reiterated their finding that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is well qualified to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, and law enforcement groups rebutted GOP accusations Jackson is soft on child pornographers during the final day of Jackson’s confirmation hearings Thursday. Republicans, however, called in witnesses to […]