(Missouri Independent) – The biggest item in a $1 billion supplemental spending bill would set aside money for a new method of making Medicaid payments, but exactly how it would work or how much it would cost is unknown. The House Budget Committee on Tuesday held a public hearing on the bill that would also […]
Tag: lawmaker
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: Missouri Senate Education Committee Chair wants community colleges to get more core funding
The Missouri Legislature is making its way through the state budget process. Shelbina State Senator Cindy O’Laughlin says she would like Missouri’s community colleges to get an increase in core funding from the state. O’Laughlin is the chair of the Senate Education Committee. O’Laughlin, of northeast Missouri’s Shelbina, uses Moberly Area Community College […]
Audio: Missouri’s Senate President expects PDMP to receive final approval this week; state budget to get attention
Missouri’s Senate leader says the state operating budget will get a lot of attention in his chamber during the next five weeks. The House has approved a 34-billion dollar budget, that does NOT include funding for Medicaid expansion. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (pronounced like shots) notes the budget now heads to the Senate. […]
Holding Medicaid hostage over birth control defies law and reason
(Missouri Independent) – While playing politics with healthcare in Missouri is certainly nothing new, holding Missouri Medicaid hostage over basic birth control is a stunning — and consequential — shift. As captured in headlines across the state, state Sen. Paul Wieland has put the entire Missouri Medicaid program in jeopardy with his late-night amendment to a […]
Audio: Missouri House Committee hears testimony on checkpoint and roadblock legislation
A veteran Missouri lawmaker who served as an O’Fallon police officer for 13 years is proposing a constitutional amendment that involves checkpoints and roadblocks. Lake St. Louis GOP State Representative Justin Hill’s proposal would prohibit a roadside checkpoint or roadblock set up by law enforcement, except in emergency situations to prevent the escape of a […]
Audio: Jesus’ name invoked by both parties as Missouri House approves $34 billion budget, without Medicaid expansion
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 […]
Audio: Railroaders to rally Thursday in Jefferson City for additional Amtrak funding;
Railroaders from across Missouri will rally at the State Capitol in Jefferson City today (Thursday), urging lawmakers to restore some Amtrak funding. A delegation from the American Association of Railroaders Inc. wants twice-daily Amtrak passenger train service between St. Louis and Kansas City on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The group says the tourists […]
Audio: Lawmaker proposes amendment prohibiting roadside checkpoints and roadblocks by law enforcement
You’ll be voting next November on a proposed constitutional amendment involving checkpoints and roadblocks if a veteran Missouri lawmaker has his way. State Rep. Justin Hill (R-Lake St. Louis) will present his proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday at noon, before the Missouri House Downsizing State Government Committee in Jefferson City. The committee is chaired by […]
Audio: Missouri Senate Committee to hear testimony Tuesday on school bus safety legislation
A state senator from Kansas City wants to see a task force study school bus safety, particularly the effectiveness of seat belts. Kansas City State Senator Greg Razer will testify today (Tuesday) before the Missouri Senate Transportation and Public Safety Committee. His bill would establish the Joint Task Force on School Bus Safety […]
Audio: Missouri Hospital Association comments on legislative effort to defund Medicaid expansion
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 […]
Workers, small-business owners oppose bill to cut minimum wage
Workers and small-business owners are voicing opposition to a bill before the Legislature that would tie Missouri’s minimum wage to the federal minimum wage, reversing a voter-approved increase to $12 an hour by 2023. Terrence Wise, a McDonald’s worker in Kansas City and a leader of the Service Employees International Union’s “Fight for 15 and a […]
Audio: Missouri senator attempts to expand LGBTQ protections
State Senator Greg Razer says minds are shifting about changing the Missouri Non-Discrimination Act. The Kansas City Democrat has filed legislation that would ban discrimination based upon sexual orientation or gender identity for things like housing, financial help, employment, or the use of public restrooms. Razer, who is openly gay, says he has talked to […]
Lawmakers introduce legislation to close loophole in Child Citizenship Act preventing citizenship from those raised by American parents
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Mazie K. Hirono (Hawaii), Susan Collins (Maine), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) announced that they have introduced the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021. The bipartisan bill would close a loophole in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (CCA), which has prevented internationally-adopted children, who are […]
More charges announced against Missouri lawmaker after indictment for $900,000 COVID-19 fraud scheme
Additional charges have been returned by a federal grand jury against an elected Missouri state representative for a nearly $900,000 COVID-19 fraud scheme, following her indictment last month for a separate fraud scheme in which she made false claims about a supposed stem cell treatment marketed through her clinics in southern Missouri, and for illegally […]
Evanston, Illinois to provide housing grants as form of reparations
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 […]
Eric Schmitt joins Missouri race for U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Roy Blunt
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt officially jumped into the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, making him the second major Republican hopeful seeking to replace Roy Blunt. Schmitt’s decision comes after former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens jumped into the race earlier this week. Both made their announcements on Fox News. “Washington, D.C., needs more […]
Abortion amendment puts bill to finance Missouri Medicaid program in limbo
(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 […]
Audio: Missouri House Committee hears testimony on legislation aimed at helping seniors with property taxes
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 […]