U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) announced that he and other lawmakers are co-sponsors of legislation to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from being used as a political weapon against American citizens. “People across Missouri are rightly concerned about the kind of government overreach and political targeting we’ve seen from the IRS in the past,” said […]
Tag: Democrats
Audio: Missouri Legislature expected back for special session to vote on healthcare renewal tax
The Missouri Legislature is expected to head back for a special session later this year to vote on a healthcare renewal tax. In a rare move, the Missouri Senate adjourned the legislative session several hours early Friday without passing the legislation. The Federal Reimbursement Allowance also referred to as FRA, helps to fund about two […]
Audio: Conservative group wants to send gas tax hike to Missouri voters
(Missouri Independent) – On Monday morning, Jeremy Cady, state director of Americans for Prosperity, filed paperwork with Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office to begin the process of putting the 12.5-cents a gallon tax increase on a statewide ballot. To succeed in forcing a referendum on the bill, the campaign would have to gather about 110,000 […]
Audio: Missouri House Speaker disappointed Senate did not approve photo ID and initiative petition reform
Missouri’s GOP House Speaker and the House Elections Committee chairman are disappointed that the GOP-controlled Senate did not approve legislation on voter ID and initiative petition reform. Speaker Rob Vescovo tells Missourinet he’ll review Election Chairman Dan Shaul’s request that the governor call a special session. The Missouri House gave final approval in […]
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 […]
Missouri’s Governor Parson abandons plans to implement voter-approved Medicaid expansion
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri will not expand Medicaid coverage to working-age adults on July 1 because lawmakers refused to include funding for the health care program in the state budget, Gov. Mike Parson announced Thursday. In a news release, Parson said the state was withdrawing documents submitted to the federal government necessary to add the approximately 275,000 […]
Missouri House approves prescription drug monitoring program, sends bill to the governor
(Missouri Independent) – In a historic vote, the Missouri House signed off Tuesday on legislation creating a prescription drug monitoring program — inching one step closer to ending Missouri’s designation as the only state without one. The bill now heads to Gov. Mike Parson for his signature or veto. Sen. Holly Rehder, a Sikeston Republican who […]
Lawmakers approve Missouri operating budget
Missouri foster care advocates are praising Friday’s passage of the $35.1 billion state operating budget, saying it provides unprecedented support for the foster families who care for the thousands of children in Missouri foster care. House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith (R-Carthage) tells Missourinet that the budget provides a $90 million increase for foster and adoptive […]
Audio: Missouri Senate-House bill boosts protections for police, punishment for protests
The House and Senate will soon confer on a bill to boost protections for police officers and to boost penalties for repeated protesting in public streets. Senate Bill 26, deemed “the public safety bill of the session” by supporters, also comes with an array of amendments tacked on by the House Tuesday. The […]
Audio: Missouri Senate sides with House; chooses not to fund Medicaid expansion
The Missouri Senate has passed a $34 billion state budget proposal without funding an expansion of Medicaid. The upper chamber sided with the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Missouri House of Representatives by rejecting attempts to put expansion funding into the budget that begins in July. Gov. Mike Parson’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2022 […]
Democrats vow court battle if lawmakers don’t fund Missouri Medicaid expansion
(Missouri Independent) – With the Missouri Senate poised for what promises to be a lengthy debate over Medicaid expansion, legislative Democrats said Tuesday that the fight over funding will move to the courts if lawmakers don’t approve money for the new coverage. During a rally on the Capitol Building lawn, Senate Democrats promised to push […]
Audio: Missouri House gives initial approval to bipartisan feral hog legislation
Bipartisan legislation increasing penalties for people who knowingly release feral hogs into the wild has received initial approval from the Missouri House. The bill, which is sponsored by Portageville State Representative Don Rone, increases the criminal penalty from a class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony. The Missouri Department of Conservation, the […]
Audio: Senate committee rejects compromise to fund Medicaid expansion on a smaller scale
On a tie vote, the Senate Appropriations Committee has rejected a compromise proposal that would have funded Medicaid expansion on a smaller scale. The effort, led by Springfield Republican Lincoln Hough, would have designated 60-million dollars in state funding to the expansion. Republican Governor Parson requested more than 100-million dollars and the House chose not […]
Audio: For the first time since the Civil War, the Missouri House votes to expel one of its own
The Missouri House has voted unanimously to expel Lee’s Summit Representative Rick Roeber. The House Ethics Committee released an investigative report this week about allegations that Roeber, a Republican, abused his four adult children when they were younger. It says two of the children were allegedly sexually abused and two others reported being physically abused. […]
Missouri spending bill would offer money for mortgage help, utility bills
(Missouri Independent) – Help may be coming for Missouri homeowners behind on their mortgage payments because of COVID-19 income losses. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday added $150 million in federal mortgage assistance funds to the supplemental spending bill for the current fiscal year, one of several new sections using money from pandemic relief bills passed by Congress […]
Panel recommends Missouri House expel Republican accused of sexually abusing his children
(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri House Ethics Committee voted unanimously on Monday to recommend Rep. Rick Roeber be expelled from the Legislature. The committee, made up of five Republicans and five Democrats, said evidence obtained over the course of its four-month investigation confirmed Roeber had sexually abused two of his children in 1990 when they […]
Todd Graves approved for University of Missouri curators despite bipartisan filibuster
(Missouri Independent) – A bipartisan coalition of state Senators was unable to stop politically connected Kansas City attorney Todd Graves from winning a seat on the University of Missouri Board of Curators. After a two-round filibuster — three hours last week and eight more hours ending around 1 a.m. Wednesday — the Senate voted 19-13 to […]
Audio: “Kids Win Missouri” praises Missouri House’s $76 million Increase for foster and adoptive children
A coalition that’s dedicated to improving the well-being of Missouri children is praising the Missouri House’s bipartisan approval of a 76-million dollar increase for foster and adoptive children. Kids Win Missouri policy director Craig Stevenson says the House budget includes unprecedented support for the kinship and foster families who care for the 14,000 children in […]
Audio: Parson’s pick for University of Missouri Board of Curators having an uphill battle in Missouri Senate
The governor’s choice to serve on the University of Missouri System Board of Curators is having an uphill battle in the state Senate. Senators on both sides of the aisle blocked an attempt last week to consider the nomination of Todd Graves to the University of Missouri System Board of Curators. Graves, a former state […]