Budget news graphic

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 […]

Gavel and Law book news graphic

Audio: Missouri Legislature’s state budget negotiators recommend the hiring of 53 public defenders

The Missouri Legislature’s state budget negotiators are recommending the hiring of 53 attorneys for the state Public Defender System. During negotiations, Senate Minority Floor Leader John Rizzo of Independence says his wife corrects some cases handled at the local level by overworked attorneys.     The system has nearly 400 lawyers handling about 90,000 cases […]

Jennifer Sansoucie

Woman serving a 25-year sentence for murder at Chillicothe Correctional Center charged with assault

An inmate at the Chillicothe Correctional Center has been charged with felony violence to an employee of the Missouri Department of Corrections or to an inmate by an inmate. Thirty-four-year-old Jennifer Sansoucie is scheduled for an initial appearance in the Associate Division of Livingston County Circuit Court on May 26th. A probable cause affidavit from […]

Transgender Students Graphic

Bill banning trans students from sports teams by gender wins support of Missouri House

(Missouri Independent) – After hours of fierce debate that spanned the course of two days, the Missouri House on Wednesday signed off on a prohibition on transgender students participating on the sports teams that match their gender identity. The provision, offered as an amendment by Rep. Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport, to House Bill 1141 was adopted by a vote […]

Medicaid Expansion

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 […]

Representative Rick Roeber Lee's Summit

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. […]