People with concealed carry permits could be allowed to take firearms into Missouri places like government buildings, polling places, churches, public hospitals, and public colleges. During a Missouri House committee hearing Monday, Representative Jered Taylor of Nixa says he is proposing eliminating some gun-free zones. Taylor says permit holders could help protect the […]
A Missouri House committee will meet Monday to discuss whether they’ll hear remote testimony this week on legislation involving transgender high school athletes. Rocheport GOP State Representative Chuck Basye is sponsoring the House joint resolution and says this is an important issue. Basye’s legislation would require that students who participate in sex-separated athletic […]
A one-point-nine-trillion-dollar pandemic relief package heads to the U-S Senate after approval by the Democratic-controlled U.S. House. The plan featuring $1,400 stimulus checks passed early Saturday with no Republican support. Missouri GOP Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler says it’s “serving as an excuse to spend our tax money on unnecessary things completely unrelated to the […]
After years of attempts, the state House has voted to pass a bill that would let donors provide scholarships for students to attend a private Missouri K-12 school. In return, they would get state tax credits. Under the bill, students with special needs and those who qualify for free and reduce price school meals would […]
(Missouri Independent) – The eyes of the nation turned to U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley over the holidays when he became the first senator to announce an objection to the certification of presidential electors. But the eyes of local politicos turned instead to his home-state colleague, Missouri’s senior senator. How would Roy Blunt — up for […]
(Missouri Independent) – About 137,700 registered voters in Missouri did not have a state-issued identification in 2017, according to an analysis from the Secretary of State’s Office. Another 140,000 voters had expired IDs, and 2,000 more voters had forfeited their driver’s licenses. Under a bill passed Wednesday in the Missouri House, those registered voters would either have to […]
A state House committee has voted unanimously today to pass two bills that aim to keep tabs on unregulated faith-based boarding schools in Missouri. Former students from across the country attended a recent hearing and talked about getting beaten, being starved, restrained, forced to eat their own vomit, and put in isolation for days or […]
There is bipartisan support for legislation ensuring that Missourians cannot be taxed on their federal stimulus checks. Missouri House Budget Committee chairman Cody Smith of Carthage presented his bill Wednesday in Jefferson City, Smith tells lawmakers it’s important to act, noting that under Missouri’s tax code, federal stimulus checks related to COVID are […]
(Missouri Independent) – Republican state Senators advanced sweeping legislation early Tuesday morning aimed at penalizing protestors who block streets, while also providing further protections for law enforcement under investigation for misconduct or excessive force. The bill also aims to prevent municipalities from decreasing the budgets for law enforcement agencies in Missouri by more than 12 percent over […]
(Missouri Independent) – Last spring, as Missouri businesses shed hundreds of thousands of jobs, Gov. Mike Parson warned that the state was headed for the worst financial crunch since the 2008 recession. Ten months later, Parson presented a budget plan that anticipates a $1.1 billion surplus on July 1, the biggest in state history. And if the $1.9 trillion pandemic […]
(Missouri Independent) – The White House on Wednesday indicated that President Joe Biden would support studying reparations for slavery, the same day that House Democrats held a hearing on legislation that would set up a reparations commission. But White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stopped short of saying Biden would sign the bill under consideration […]
(Missouri Independent) – Thousands of Missourians facing repayment of mistakenly paid unemployment benefits would get some relief under legislation passed with a bipartisan vote Wednesday in a Missouri House committee. The bill, which will likely be debated on the House floor next week, would forgive debts due to overpayments from federal coronavirus relief programs but would not […]
State Senator Greg Razer says Missouri students are “leaving in droves” to attend colleges and universities in Kansas, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. Razer, a Democrat from Kansas City, says some of these states are offering large discounts. State funding also impacts the ability of Missouri colleges and universities to recruit faculty and […]
(Missouri Independent) – The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office in a report Monday found a gradual increase to a $15 federal minimum wage by 2025 would reduce poverty, add $54 billion to the deficit over a decade and increase pay for millions of low-income workers. The report could help Democrats make a strong case for including a […]
The Missouri House Budget Committee is scheduled to hear today Governor Parson’s state budget proposal for higher education. Kansas City State Senator Greg Razer says state funding provided to Missouri’s colleges and universities is almost identical to what the state gave to them in 1999. Razer says in 1999, 70% of the University of Missouri-Columbia’s […]
The top Democrat on Missouri’s House Children’s Committee was featured Thursday night on NBC’s “Dateline,” for her legislation aimed at facilities like the troubled Circle of Hope Girls’ Ranch near Humansville. Lee’s Summit State Representative Keri Ingle tells Missourinet the issue with faith-based boarding schools goes well beyond the Circle of Hope. “Dateline” […]
Missouri can fund up to 75% of school bus transportation costs, which currently total about $278 million. Under the governor’s and the Education Department’s new budget proposal, Missouri underfunds these expenses by about 185 million dollars. During a House Budget Committee hearing, St. Louis Democrat Peter Merideth asked the department’s Kari Monsees why 93 million […]
The second impeachment trial of now-former president Donald Trump begins today in Washington.— in the U-S Senate. The Democratic majority in the House argues that Trump incited the violence and the attack on the US Capitol on January 6. The former president’s lawyers argue that the trial itself is unconstitutional. Political Science associate professor Kevin […]
Former Missouri State Senator Scott Sifton has announced today his bid for the seat currently held by Republican U.S. Senator Roy Blunt. Sifton unveiled his decision today in a launch video critical of both Missouri U.S. Senators. “Our country is at a critical point in its history,” Sifton says in a press release. “We just […]
Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush wants Congress to give Americans monthly checks of $2,000 until the pandemic is over with. Bush, a Democrat from St. Louis, says the payments should be retroactive – from the beginning of the pandemic. During an appearance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, she says she wants people to get […]
