(Missouri Independent) – A constitutional amendment asking Missourians to let lawmakers decide year-to-year whether the state will offer Medicaid to working-age adults moved closer to passage on Wednesday. By an 8-5 vote, the Senate Appropriations Committee sent the House-passed proposal to the full Senate for debate. Only Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, voted with Democrats to oppose the measure, which […]
Tag: independent
Legislators weigh blocking COVID visitor restrictions at Missouri hospitals, nursing homes
(Missouri Independent) – State Rep. Ed Lewis had just hours to say goodbye. In March 2020, his 89-year-old mother had to go to the hospital after suffering from a fall. Lewis’ sister was their mother’s primary caregiver, but in the pandemic’s first days as hospitals restricted visitors, family members weren’t allowed to stay with her. Lewis […]
Amid curriculum debates, sweeping ‘parents’ Bill of Rights’ wins initial House approval
(Missouri Independent) -As debates over school curriculum rage nationwide, the Missouri House granted initial approval Tuesday to a “Parents’ Bill of Rights” that would allow for lawsuits and funding to be withheld from schools that repeatedly violate the proposed law. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho, aims to “to empower parents to enforce” rights […]
Missouri Attorney General’s office and Moberly School District reach agreement in Sunshine lawsuit
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that the Attorney General’s Office has reached a favorable resolution in a lawsuit the Office filed against Moberly School District over alleged violations of the Sunshine Law. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office filed suit against the Moberly School District in November 2021 for failing to comply with the Sunshine […]
Department of Justice rule cracks down untraceable firearms known as ‘ghost guns’
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden Monday unveiled the Department of Justice’s plan to regulate untraceable firearms known as ghost guns, as well as announced his nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The Department of Justice’s final rule bans the business of manufacturing ghost guns, such as “buy build shoot” kits […]
Democrats file suit to keep two-time Republican candidate off ballot for Missouri House seat
(Missouri Independent) – Democrats want to kick a candidate off the ballot in the race for a Kansas City-area Missouri House seat, claiming the Grandview man who filed in the 36th District contest is actually “a longtime Republican and vocal opponent of the Democratic Party.” John D. Boyd Jr. filed for the seat on Feb. […]
No signs of support for Greitens in Missouri county where abuse charges will be heard
(Missouri Independent) – A smattering of giggles greeted the name of former Gov. Eric Greitens Friday evening when emcee Branden Rathert called for the U.S. Senate candidates invited to speak at Boone County Republican Lincoln Days to come forward. Up to that point, there had been no trace of Greitens or his campaign at the […]
Supreme Court refuses to hear Kim Gardner appeal in Eric Greitens records case
(Missouri Independent) – It will be up to a St. Louis judge to decide how long Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has to produce records sought by a journalist considered an ally of former Gov. Eric Greitens. The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a last-ditch appeal by Gardner of an order giving her […]
Record Missouri surplus likely to grow under $46.5B House budget plan
(Missouri Independent) – The biggest state budget in Missouri history could also leave the biggest surplus in state history when the next fiscal year ends. The Missouri House on Thursday sent 15 appropriation bills to the state Senate, one supplemental spending bill for the current fiscal year, and 14 spending $46.5 billion in the coming year. The […]
Pause on federal student loan repayments extended by Biden through August 31
(Missouri Independent) – The Biden administration Wednesday announced its plans to extend the pause on federal student loan repayments until the end of August. “I recognized in recently extending the COVID-19 national emergency, we are still recovering from the pandemic and the unprecedented economic disruption it caused,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “If loan […]
Missouri Supreme Court declines to immediately hear appeal of COVID ruling
(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a request by five counties and health departments to quickly hear arguments and review a case that they say “upended the longstanding public health framework” in Missouri. The decision means an appeal of a Cole County judge’s November ruling will have to first go through […]
Missouri House signs off on $46.2 billion budget, leaves most of huge state surplus untouched
(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri House gave first-round approval Tuesday to a package of budget bills spending $46.2 billion, with Republicans defeating repeated Democratic efforts to tap the state’s record surplus. The budget includes boosts to higher education funding, both for institutions and scholarships, as well as funding one of last year’s most controversial issues, Medicaid […]
Former state health department official hired to oversee creation of Missouri’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program
(Missouri Independent) – A Missouri task force assigned with overseeing the creation of a statewide prescription drug monitoring program has hired a former state health department veteran to serve as the program’s executive director. Dean Linneman, the former director of the Department of Health and Senior Services Division of Regulation and Licensure, was hired on […]
Missouri Senate committee takes up bill targeting Grain Belt Express transmission line
(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri Senate is poised to take up a long-running effort to stymie the Grain Belt Express, a massive transmission line meant to carry wind energy from southwest Kansas across three states. The $2 billion project would carry 4,000 megawatts of energy, dropping some off in Missouri before ending at the Illinois-Indiana […]
Jackson wins 3 GOP votes as U.S. Senate advances her Supreme Court nomination
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Senate advanced Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic Supreme Court nomination in a 53-47 procedural vote Monday evening, hours after the Judiciary Committee deadlocked along party lines. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah voted with all 50 Senate Democrats on the procedural […]
Women within Missouri GOP speak out against Eric Greitens as party remains silent
(Missouri Independent) – In just two weeks since allegations of domestic violence surfaced, Eric Greitens’ campaign for the U.S. Senate has been under siege from fellow Republicans urging him to drop out of the race. With one notable exception. The state party, which in recent years has denounced several candidates running under the GOP banner for […]
Control of Title X federal family planning funds remains with Missouri nonprofit
(Missouri Independent) – Despite facing competition from the state health department, the nonprofit Missouri Family Health Council Inc. will continue to administer federal Title X family planning funds. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded more than $250 million in Title X funding this week, including $5.3 million to Missouri. That money helps pay […]
Biden administration to halt pandemic policy blocking migrants who claim asylum
(Missouri Independent) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that the government will terminate a Trump-era policy that prevented migrants from claiming asylum during a health crisis, including the coronavirus pandemic. The policy will end on May 23, the CDC wrote in its notice. “There is no longer a serious danger that the […]
U.S. House votes to decriminalize marijuana in federal law
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. House passed legislation Friday to legalize marijuana nationally, but its future is much less clear in the Senate. The House voted 220-204 to approve the measure, which would fix the split between federal law and 19 states where recreational marijuana is legal. Three Republicans joined all but two Democrats in approving the measure. […]