(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden’s massive pandemic stimulus law pumps a welcome infusion of federal aid into state and local government coffers — but one brief section is raising questions about whether states are barred from cutting their own taxes if they accept the federal help. The Senate added language to the COVID-19 relief package […]
(Missouri Independent) – Roy Blunt’s announcement that he won’t seek a third term certainly shook up Republican politics in Missouri, sparking nearly every GOP elected official in the state to publicly mull jumping into the campaign. Democrats aren’t immune from the speculation. While any Democrat would face an uphill fight, the chance of a messy […]
(Missouri Independent) – Roy Blunt’s decision not to seek a third term in the U.S. Senate will have cascading effects across Missouri’s political universe. The state has no shortage of ambitious Republican officials, each of whom can make a legitimate claim at being the strongest candidate. So will the 2022 GOP primary turn into a […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt led a coalition of 12 states in filing suit against President Joe Biden’s administration over a massive expansion of federal regulations through executive order, potentially impacting nearly every aspect of the economy and Missouri household. “Manufacturing, agriculture, and energy production are essential to Missouri’s economy and employ thousands of hard-working […]
Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that his office has filed a civil lawsuit against Jason Soetebier and Soetebier Contracting LLC of Jefferson County, Missouri. The suit alleges that Soetebier agreed to complete interior and exterior construction projects for various customers in exchange for full or partial upfront payments. In each instance, Soetebier failed to start […]
(Missouri Independent) – About 137,700 registered voters in Missouri did not have a state-issued identification in 2017, according to an analysis from the Secretary of State’s Office. Another 140,000 voters had expired IDs, and 2,000 more voters had forfeited their driver’s licenses. Under a bill passed Wednesday in the Missouri House, those registered voters would either have to […]
The Missouri Senate has passed a bill that would protect some businesses and organizations from COVID-19 exposure lawsuits. The legislation is designed to protect businesses like health care providers, manufacturers, schools, and churches from such lawsuits in many instances. Under the bill, the lawsuits must be filed within a year of an alleged COVID-19 exposure. […]
A gun law bill that passed the Missouri House Wednesday would punish a police department through civil lawsuits if an officer enforces federal gun laws. A twin of the bill is also moving through the Senate. The “Second Amendment Preservation Act,” sponsored by Rep. Jered Taylor, R-Nixa, is aimed at disregarding any federal firearms actions by the […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that his Office and a coalition of attorneys general from 47 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories have reached a $573 million settlement with one of the world’s largest consulting firms, McKinsey & Company. The settlement resolves investigations into the company’s role in working for opioid […]
(Missouri Independent) – Khadijah Wilson had a bully during her junior year at Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles. She told her principal and teachers about the name-calling, and how the other girl constantly threatened to beat her up. But no one intervened. It went on for several months. “I reported it more […]
The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division is warning taxpayers about a new wave of COVID-19-related scams as the agency delivers the second round of Economic Impact Payments. For more than half a year, IRS-CI has seen a variety of Economic Impact Payment scams and other financial schemes designed to steal money and personal information […]
Public-interest groups are suing the Environmental Protection Agency over the agency’s re-approval of products containing dicamba, a herbicide controversial for its tendency to drift into neighboring fields and damage farmers’ crops and homeowners’ gardens. Last fall, the EPA green-lighted dicamba use for five years, the third time the agency registered dicamba products. George Kimbrell, legal director at […]
Jackson County needs to improve controls and procedures in its assessment department to ensure effective and efficient future reassessments, an audit released today by State Auditor Nicole Galloway says. Those were some of the recommendations in the final report of the Auditor’s independent review of Jackson County government finances. The county received a rating of “fair.” […]
(Missouri Independent) – A Cole County judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit alleging limitations on the number of medical marijuana licenses issued by the state were unconstitutional. Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce ruled that the regulations at the heart of the lawsuit were “properly promulgated and are in compliance with Missouri’s laws and Constitution.” She […]
A civil complaint filed by the Department of Justice has alleged that Walmart Inc. unlawfully dispensed controlled substances from pharmacies it operated across the country and unlawfully distributed controlled substances to those pharmacies throughout the height of the prescription opioid crisis. The complaint alleges that this unlawful conduct resulted in hundreds of thousands of violations […]
A prisoners rights group has filed a lawsuit saying that a Missouri jail has been mistreating its inmates. The suit filed by the St. Loius based law frim ArchCity Defenders says deputies at St. Francois (Francis) County jail have taunted and tortured inmates and that the jail provided so little food that one […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt joined a multistate coalition of 10 states in filing a lawsuit against Google for multiple alleged violations of federal and state antitrust laws, including anticompetitive conduct, exclusionary practices, and deceptive misrepresentations in connection with its role in the multibillion-dollar online display advertising industry. “In this lawsuit, we allege that Google […]
Attorney General Eric Schmitt joined a bipartisan coalition of 48 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against Facebook Inc., alleging that the company illegally stifles competition to protect its monopoly power. The filing can be found here. The lawsuit alleges that, over the last decade, the social networking giant illegally acquired competitors in a predatory manner […]
State Auditor Nicole Galloway released an audit of the Clay County Collector’s office. The report, which gave an overall rating of “good,” is the fourth released as part of an ongoing audit of Clay County that was initiated through a citizen petition. Previously released audits of the County Clerk, Recorder, and Public Administrator gave the […]
(Missouri Independent) – The head of Missouri’s medical marijuana program testified under oath that a grand jury subpoena his agency received late last year was likely connected to an FBI investigation in Independence. The revelation by Lyndall Fraker, director of medical marijuana regulation at the Missouri Department of Health and Seniors Services, is the first […]
