A veteran state lawmaker from southeast Missouri will file a resolution this week, aimed at blocking proposed pay increases for state lawmakers and statewide elected officials. Deering GOP State Representative Andrew McDaniel has voted against previous pay raises for lawmakers, and says it’s state employees and teachers who should receive a raise: The […]
A bipartisan committee is recommending a five percent pay increase for Missouri lawmakers AND for statewide elected officials. The Citizen’s Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials has made the recommendation. While he hasn’t seen their report yet, Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz says the commission’s work is independent. The “Springfield News-Leader” reports […]
(Missouri Independent) – There’s no point trying to spin it: While the 2020 election was a mixed verdict nationally, with Republicans gaining congressional seats and minimizing Senate losses even as Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump, the Missouri verdict was unequivocal. It started atop the ticket with Trump’s dominance. He and Gov. Mike Parson set […]
(Missouri Independent) – As state lawmakers mull the idea of restricting police use of chokeholds or no-knock warrants, they are facing pushback from law enforcement organizations who contend decisions should be made at the local level. The House Special Committee on Criminal Justice met for three hours on Monday to explore the possibility of passing […]
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation is deploying $6 million in federal funding to create 5,300 new tech industry apprenticeships. During a virtual event Monday, President Dan Mehan calls the investment a game-changer. “There is an apprenticeship revolution going on in Missouri,” he says. “Over the last two years, our state ranks second […]
(Missouri Independent) – President Donald Trump once again easily picked up Missouri’s 10 electoral votes on Tuesday, cruising to victory over former Vice President Joe Biden in the Show-Me State. The Associated Press called the race for the president shortly after 9:30 p.m. with roughly half the precincts reporting and Trump leading by 20 percentage points […]
(Missouri Independent) – Republican Mike Parson has secured a full four-year term as Missouri’s governor, scoring victory Tuesday night over his Democratic challenger Nicole Galloway. Parson, 65, led Galloway, 38, by more than 442,000 votes with over 95 percent of the state’s precincts reporting shortly after midnight, according to the Secretary of State’s unofficial results. The […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri voters on Tuesday repealed a constitutional amendment they enacted in 2018 that would have required legislative districts be drawn to ensure partisan fairness. They replaced it with one that critics contend could forgo the use of total population to draw districts and instead exclude all non-voters, specifically children and non-citizens — tilting the political […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office dismissed accusations that his office and the state department of health illegally concealed records and violated the Sunshine Law during the course of a medical marijuana lawsuit, calling the charges “frivolous” and “baseless.” The accusation arose last week in a motion seeking sanctions against Schmitt’s office and […]
(Missouri Independent) – A Missouri family that sued after being denied a medical marijuana license is alleging the state department of health and Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office illegally concealed documents and violated open records laws in order to undercut their lawsuit. The allegations — which are included in a 28-page motion seeking sanctions against […]
Governor Mike Parson has called another special session – this time to focus on getting extra federal coronavirus funding made available to the state. The federal aid includes funding for school meals, grants for homelessness prevention and job training, child support payments, among others. “COVID-19 has had an overwhelming impact on our state, and while […]
Both sides in the debate on Missouri’s Amendment Three November ballot measure presented their case to voters Wednesday evening, in a virtual forum hosted by Springfield’s Drury University. Missourians approved “Clean Missouri” in 2018, which required a nonpartisan demographer to draw state legislative districts. Amendment Three transfers that responsibility to governor-appointed bipartisan commissions. State Sen. […]
Missouri’s two major gubernatorial candidates clashed during a Friday afternoon debate in Columbia on numerous issues, including Clean Missouri, COVID, Medicaid expansion, and valet parking at the Capitol. The debate, which took place at the Missouri Theatre in Columbia, was sponsored by the Missouri Press Association. Missouri voters approved Clean Missouri in November 2018. It had […]
Bookworms and literature buffs in Missouri are celebrating freedom of choice, of reading materials, and denouncing attacks on what they say is their First Amendment right to read. Banned Books Week, which spotlights attempts to censor books, recently took place. Banned Books Week brings to light more than 600 books, films, and other literary materials […]
Nearly 2,000 Buchanan County voters in northwest Missouri will be sent new ballots after receiving absentee ballots with language thrown out by the courts. Some voters in southwest Missouri’s Vernon County were reportedly also given ballots with the wrong language. Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey says the county received ballots with the original language for […]
Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway released an audit of Jackson County government that found a lack of transparency in how the county spent millions of taxpayer dollars on legal, lobbying, and other professional services. The audit identified $2.7 million in contracts that were not competitively bid and another $1.3 million in contracts that went years […]
Missouri county clerks in both parties say they need additional funding to protect voters and poll workers during the November general election. Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon, a Columbia Democrat, notes November will be a high turnout election during the COVID-19 pandemic. She says county clerks have had unexpected costs. “Having to purchase personal protective equipment […]
The Missouri Court of Appeals says part of the summary language for the Amendment 3 November ballot measure has “major problems” and needs new wording. In a written court decision Monday, the three-judge panel says the description, written by the Republican-controlled Legislature, “fails to acknowledge” what the amendment would do, which is to “substantially modify, and reorder […]
Several bills become law today that the Missouri Legislature passed during the second regular session of the 100th General Assembly. Here is a snapshot of the top bills approved by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Mike Parson: Partial motorcycle helmet law repeal House Bill 1963 is a sweeping transportation bill allowing motorcycle drivers 26 years and […]
The state of Missouri is being sued over its deadline for Election Day mail-in ballots to count. Four plaintiffs are challenging the constitutionality of Missouri’s law requiring mailed-in ballots to be received by election authorities by 7 p.m. on election night in order to count. They say the law “makes it more difficult […]
