(Missouri Independent) – Cannabis dispensaries throughout the country came one step closer to using banks the way many other businesses can when the U.S. House on Friday cleared a bill with sweeping changes to banking regulations. Colorado Democrat Ed Perlmutter and Ohio Republican Dave Joyce, co-sponsors of the legislation, said Friday their proposal would allow […]
Tag: Democrats
Congress clashes over climate in early farm bill talks
(Missouri Independent) – Congressional Democrats on Wednesday touted conservation programs for farmers and ranchers as key tools for limiting agriculture’s impact on the global climate as they took initial steps to create the next farm bill. One Republican’s response: So what? “We’ve talked primarily about climate change, and I gotta to be honest with you,” […]
Ketanji Brown Jackson considered among Biden’s top candidates for the U.S. Supreme Court
(Missouri Independent) – With the retirement of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer by this summer, President Joe Biden has said he will fulfill a campaign promise of appointing a Black woman to an open seat on the highest court in the land. A top contender, who was even vetted by the Obama administration in 2016 as […]
Audio: Missouri Congressman Long says 2020 election was rigged; Blunt still disagrees
YouTube has removed a U.S. Senate campaign ad of Missouri Congressman Billy Long inaccurately claiming that President Biden “stole” the 2020 presidential election. The Kansas City Star reports the online video company contends the ad violates the site’s community guidelines. During a stop Thursday in southwest Missouri’s Springfield, Missouri U.S. Senator Roy Blunt reaffirmed his […]
Reversing state’s decision, Missouri panel awards marijuana license to jilted applicant
(Missouri Independent) – In a rare move, a Missouri commission granted a medical marijuana license to an applicant after discovering irregularities with how state regulators evaluated applications. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) decided to forgo appealing the ruling, announcing Tuesday that it had reached a settlement with the jilted applicant to […]
Senate committee advances ‘6-2’ Missouri Congressional map
(Missouri Independent) – A new Congressional map won the approval of a Missouri Senate committee on Tuesday, setting the stage for a debate that promises to be among the most contentious of the 2022 legislative session. After two hours of public testimony, a pair of Democrats joined with seven Republicans Tuesday to advance a map […]
Parson pay raise plan in limbo as $5.4 billion spending bill awaits vote
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri state employees counting on seeing a big raise in their February paychecks may be disappointed, as lawmakers fiddle with a $5.4 billion spending bill pushed by Gov. Mike Parson. When the Republican governor in December proposed a 5.5 percent pay raise for all state workers, he said he wanted it in effect by […]
Republicans and Democrats agree on new map for 163 seats in Missouri House of Representatives
A panel of 20 Republicans and Democrats reportedly have agreed on a new map for the 163 seats in the Missouri House of Representatives. It’s a proposed map that makes several changes for our area legislative district. The House Independent Citizens Commission voted unanimously to approve the plan, which needed support from 14 members to […]
With voting rights stalled, some senators mull an update to the Electoral Count Act
(Missouri Independent) – A bipartisan group of senators is exploring legislation to overhaul how Congress counts Electoral College votes, but backers of stalled voting rights legislation are lukewarm on the effort as a substitute. The Electoral Count Act is an obscure law that has come under recent scrutiny, a year after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. […]
Missouri Senate hears bipartisan push to forgive mistakenly overpaid unemployment benefits
(Missouri Independent) – Tracie Engelmeyer was among hundreds of bus drivers who were furloughed in St. Louis County in March 2020 because of the pandemic. School-district authorities told them that even though drivers are contracted labor, they would qualify for unemployment benefits and urged them to apply. Engelmeyer recalled the conversation she had with a […]
Governor proposes record $47.3B Missouri budget as he taps surplus and federal aid
(Missouri Independent) – Gov. Mike Parson proposed massive new spending on infrastructure and college buildings, and still found money to set aside for pensions and future revenue shortfalls, in the budget submitted Wednesday to lawmakers. Missouri will enter the new fiscal year with nearly $3 billion in surplus general revenue, an anticipation of record future tax collections, […]
Governor Mike Parson touts Missouri’s COVID-19 response in annual State of State address
(Missouri Independent) – Gov. Mike Parson praised his administration’s handling of the still-unfolding COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday, telling a joint session of the Missouri General Assembly that the state has emerged ready to make long-term investments in its future. “The bottom line is Missouri’s economy is strong,” Parson said in his annual State of the State […]
Audio: Child tax credit payments stopped
Millions of families will have to adjust their budgets as monthly child tax payments will stop for the first time in months; however, Joey Parker reports, they could resume. Congress failed to pass an extension to the program but are in talks about reviving it as more than 30 million families were getting the […]
Supreme Court blocks Biden workplace vaccine rule, allows health care workers mandate
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a blow to the Biden administration’s fight against the pandemic, blocking a federal mandate that workers be vaccinated or regularly tested for COVID-19 — though the court allowed a separate rule requiring vaccinations for some health care workers. The two rulings represented a split victory for Republican attorneys general […]
Immigrants make last-ditch plea for deportation protections, work permits in “Build Back Better”
(Missouri Independent) – Undocumented workers and immigration advocates are pushing for Democrats to keep work permits and protections from deportations in the final version of the $1.85 trillion social spending and climate package that the U.S. House is set to vote on as soon as Thursday night. Those immigration provisions face elimination when the bill […]
Climate funds in infrastructure bill aimed at drought, wildfires, floods
(Missouri Independent) – The recently passed bipartisan infrastructure bill isn’t just about roads and bridges — it also spends billions to address wildfire, drought, flooding, and other effects from climate change, Interior Department officials said Wednesday. The $1.2 trillion measure, which is awaiting President Joe Biden’s signature after the House cleared it last week, includes pay […]
Federal grand jury subpoenas sought records from Missouri medical marijuana regulators
(Missouri Independent) – Twice last year a federal grand jury demanded the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services turn over records pertaining to the medical marijuana program. The pair of subpoenas, issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri in September 2020, were redacted by the department at the […]
Biden pitches new $1.75 trillion spending blueprint to Democrats that drops paid family leave
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden is meeting with congressional Democrats on Capitol Hill Thursday morning to pitch lawmakers on a new slimmed-down framework for what would be included in a massive social reform package, according to senior administration officials. The $1.75 trillion blueprint that Biden is presenting to Democrats includes a universal pre-K program for 3-and-4 […]
Governor Parson doubles down on push to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site
(Missouri Independent) – Gov. Mike Parson escalated his war with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Wednesday when his political operation published a video doubling down on his attack against a reporter who informed the state that a state website revealed teacher Social Security numbers. The video is produced by Uniting Missouri, a political action committee created by […]