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 […]
Tag: democrat
Abortion amendment puts bill to finance Missouri Medicaid program in limbo
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri Senate leadership pulled a bill vital for funding the state’s Medicaid program from floor debate Tuesday after adopting an amendment barring the use of public money for common contraceptive treatments. The amendment, sponsored by Republican Sen. Paul Wieland, could endanger the state’s entire Medicaid program by eliminating a health care service required by federal […]
Audio: Bill in Missouri Legislature would delay full increase of minimum wage hike
In 2018, 62-percent of Missouri voters approved a gradual minimum wage hike of $12.00 an hour by 2023. A state House committee is considering a bill that would delay the full increase by three years. During a committee hearing, Representative Allen Andrews of northwest Missouri’s Grant City says he supports the bill. He says his […]
Audio: Proposed Missouri constitutional amendment would change state legislative term limits
A Missouri House committee will hear testimony Wednesday afternoon in Jefferson City on a proposed constitutional amendment that would change the state’s legislative term limits. In 1992, Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment known as Amendment 12, which established term limits. The term limits approved in 1992 remain in effect today. Missouri lawmakers […]
Biden calls on U.S. Senate to act on background checks after Colorado mass shooting
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden on Tuesday urged the U.S. Senate to immediately pass legislation to close loopholes on background checks for guns and to ban assault weapons, following a mass shooting that killed 10 at a Colorado supermarket. “This should not be a partisan issue,” Biden said. “This is an American issue.” Biden’s […]
Audio: Former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens announces U.S. Senate bid
A former Missouri governor who resigned three years ago announced Monday on national television that he’s running for the U.S. Senate in 2022. Current U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) will not seek re-election next year, which will leave the seat open for the 2022 election cycle. Republican Eric Greitens was elected as Missouri’s governor in […]
Senate confirms Haaland as first-ever Native American to serve in the Cabinet
(Missouri Independent) – U.S. Rep. Debra Haaland made history on Monday when she became the first Native American to ever be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to hold a position in a president’s Cabinet. In a narrow 51-40 vote, senators confirmed Haaland, a New Mexico Democrat, to serve as secretary of the interior, where she […]
Audio: Missouri House attempts to ban judges from changing ballot language written by Legislature
The Missouri House has given initial approval to a bill that would ban judges from changing ballot language written by the Legislature. The proposal follows two Missouri courts rewriting language for a controversial legislative redistricting measure passed by voters last fall. Bill sponsor John Wiemann, a Republican from O’Fallon, and Hillsdale Democrat Kevin Windham debated […]
States question whether new federal stimulus law rules out tax cuts
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden’s massive pandemic stimulus law pumps a welcome infusion of federal aid into state and local government coffers — but one brief section is raising questions about whether states are barred from cutting their own taxes if they accept the federal help. The Senate added language to the COVID-19 relief package […]
Jay Nixon comeback? Democrats lining up for shot at open Missouri Senate seat
(Missouri Independent) – Roy Blunt’s announcement that he won’t seek a third term certainly shook up Republican politics in Missouri, sparking nearly every GOP elected official in the state to publicly mull jumping into the campaign. Democrats aren’t immune from the speculation. While any Democrat would face an uphill fight, the chance of a messy […]
Roy Blunt is out. So who’s in? A list of possible Missouri GOP senate candidates
(Missouri Independent) – Roy Blunt’s decision not to seek a third term in the U.S. Senate will have cascading effects across Missouri’s political universe. The state has no shortage of ambitious Republican officials, each of whom can make a legitimate claim at being the strongest candidate. So will the 2022 GOP primary turn into a […]
Every Republican, including Senator Blunt, voted no on $2 trillion budget bill
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) released the following statement today after voting against Democrats’ nearly $2 trillion budget reconciliation bill. The far-reaching legislation includes $1,400 stimulus checks, $300-per-week jobless benefits through the summer, a child allowance of up to $3,600 for one year, $350 billion for state aid, $34 billion to expand the Affordable Care Act subsidies, and $14 billion for vaccine distribution. […]
Audio: Missouri House passes bill about 46,000 Missourians mistakenly given virus unemployment benefits
Missourians who were mistakenly paid coronavirus unemployment benefits might not have to return the federal portion, but they still might owe the state’s share. The Missouri House has passed a bill affecting roughly 46-thousand Missourians who received the benefits in error and have been told by the state to pay up. During debate, Nixa Republican […]
Audio: State Representative from Carrollton proposes legislation that would eliminate Missouri’s Presidential Preference Primary
Legislation to eliminate Missouri’s presidential preference primary has been heard in a House committee in Jefferson City. The bill is sponsored by State Representative Peggy McGaugh of northwest Missouri’s Carrollton, who says it would save state taxpayers nine-million dollars. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft supports McGaugh’s proposal. Missouri has used the presidential preference […]
Audio: Missouri lawmakers are looking into foreign ownership of Missouri farmland.
A Democratic state lawmaker from St. Louis County wants to ban foreign companies from buying more farmland in Missouri. Democratic Senator Doug Beck, of Affton who is sponsoring the proposal, told members of a Senate panel Monday it is a national security issue, as well as a food security issue. Under current law, […]
After outrage over unused vaccines at rural clinics, Parson vows more KC, STL events
(Missouri Independent) – Last week, multiple mass vaccination events in rural areas neared the end of the day with hundreds of doses still on hand — prompting health departments to take to social media and encourage anyone to come for fear doses would be wasted. “We have ample vaccine still available that needs to be […]
Audio: Missouri resolution would let voters decide who sits on the state board of education
Missouri voters could decide who sits on the state board of education – not the governor. Eureka Republican Representative Dottie Bailey is proposing to let voters choose board members during each general election of a presidential election year. A House committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the measure. St. Louis Democrat Ian […]
Audio: Kansas City mother urges Missouri lawmakers to approve Blair’s Law
A Kansas City mother whose daughter was killed by a stray bullet from celebratory gunfire on the Fourth of July 2011 urged Missouri lawmakers to approve Blair’s law. Michele Shanahan Demoss traveled to Jefferson City on Monday to testify for the bill, which makes discharging a firearm within or into city limits with criminal negligence […]