(Missouri Independent) – Republicans in the Missouri House finalized their plan to block funding for voter-approved Medicaid expansion on Thursday, giving final approval to its version of the state’s budget and sending it to the Senate. What happens next remains unclear. House Democratic Leader Crystal Quade said she’s confident the Senate will restore the $1.9 […]
After a heated floor debate that included numerous biblical references, the Missouri House voted Thursday afternoon to give final approval to a $34.1 billion state operating budget. The House budget does not contain funding for Medicaid expansion. The operating budget now heads to the Missouri Senate, and Medicaid expansion supporters hope senators will include the […]
The Republican-controlled Missouri House has given initial approval to defunding a Medicaid expansion effort approved by voters last year. The chamber could vote to use the governor’s one-point-nine billion dollar budget request for the expansion to instead help seniors in nursing homes, the developmentally disabled, and expand mental health programs, among other things. Here is […]
The full Missouri House plans to get to work this week on the next state operating budget. Tensions could flare when lawmakers discuss a budget bill intended to defund a voter-approved Medicaid expansion effort. Missouri Hospital Association spokesman Dave Dillon tells Missourinet the fate of this effort has yet to play out. Governor […]
Large government payments helped 2020 Missouri net farm income match or exceed the 2014 record of $3.4 billion, according to Abigail Meffert, senior research associate with the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI). Missouri’s outlook falls in line with the U.S. Agricultural Market Outlook, a summary of 10-year baseline projections presented […]
Black residents of Evanston, who lived in the city between 1919 and 1969 or are direct descendants of someone who did, can start receiving what the City Council calls reparations in early to mid-summer, in the form of housing grants. The plan is to provide $25,000 grants for home repairs, mortgage assistance, or down payments, to […]
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 […]
(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 […]
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 […]
A proposed constitutional amendment that would prevent Missouri seniors 65 and older with incomes of less than $45 thousand dollars from paying property tax has been heard by a House committee in Jefferson City. Branson GOP State Representative Brian Seitz testified today (Wednesday) before the Ways and Means Committee. While the proposal’s fiscal […]
The Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), with the support of the Missouri Advisory Committee on Equitable COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution, launched a new statewide transportation guide to help address and eliminate barriers to COVID-19 vaccine access. “Get a Ride” can be found at MOStopsCovid.com/ride. The Missouri Advisory Committee on Equitable COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution, which was formed […]
(Missouri Independent) – The House Budget Committee will submit its revisions to Gov. Mike Parson’s $34.1 billion state operating budget to the full House this week without the benefit of clear guidelines for spending new infusions of federal cash. The committee must also decide whether and how it will use a record general revenue surplus. The fund’s cash balance […]
This Wednesday is Women’s Equal Pay Day, the average date it would take a woman working full-time to earn what a man did in 2020. Most women earn less than men throughout their careers, which translates to less financial security in retirement. According to the National Institute on Retirement Security, median household retirement incomes for women are […]
The Missouri Department of Revenue is extending the state individual tax filing and payment deadline for the 2020 tax year from April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021. The decision mirrors Wednesday’s announcement by the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service that individual taxpayers would receive automatic extensions to file and pay federal […]
The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced that the federal income tax filing due date for individuals for the 2020 tax year will be automatically extended from April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021. The IRS will be providing formal guidance in the coming days. “This continues to be a tough time for many […]
The Internal Revenue Service has announced that the third round of Economic Impact Payments will begin reaching Americans over the next week. The IRS says the first batch of payments will be sent by direct deposit, which some recipients will start receiving as early as this week and with more payments in the […]
The state House of Representatives has given first-round approval to an effort that would tax out-of-state businesses selling online to Missourians. The legislation might not result in a significant state revenue increase because it would be offset by lowering the state’s income tax rate. Bill sponsor J. Eggleston, of northwest Missouri’s Maysville, says a so-called […]
Trenton city sales tax receipts are up more than six percent for general purposes, capital projects, and parks in the first eleven months of Trenton’s current fiscal year, compared to the same months a year ago, May through March. Income from the city sales tax for fire department needs is up nearly eight percent, and […]
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Ben Cardin (Md.) have introduced a measure to permanently extend the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC), which has created jobs and driven investment in neighborhoods with high poverty and unemployment rates. The New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act (S.456) will permanently authorize a 39 percent federal tax credit for […]
Agricultural producers who have not yet enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for 2021 must do so by March 15. Producers who have not yet signed a 2021 enrollment contract or who want to make an election change should contact their local USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) office […]
