The House Budget Committee chairman says Missourians shouldn’t be taxed on federal stimulus checks. Brian Hauswirth spoke with Committee Chairman Cody Smith. House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith of southwest Missouri’s Carthage says under the state’s tax code, federal stimulus checks related to COVID are subject to personal income tax. Smith says Missourians […]
Tag: makers
Audio: Missouri House Government Oversight Committee to vote Monday on unemployment overpayment legislation
Missouri lawmakers in both parties say residents who received unemployment overpayments due to the state’s mistake should be able to keep that money. The Missouri House Government Oversight Committee is set to vote Monday on several bipartisan bills, requiring state Labor officials to waive non-fraudulent unemployment overpayments. State Labor director Anna Hui has […]
Audio: MoDOT director Patrick McKenna says 645 MoDOT employees currently have COVID
Missouri’s transportation director says more than 600 of his employees currently have the coronavirus. State Department of Transportation (MoDOT) director Patrick McKenna testified before the Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight on Monday in Jefferson City, delivering MoDOT’s annual report. “As of this moment (Monday afternoon), we’re at about 645 cases of COVID within MoDOT, MoDOT alone,” McKenna […]
Audio: Missouri’s Governor discusses unemployment overpayments and issues with House Speaker
Missouri’s governor is downplaying news reports of tension between him and House Speaker Rob Vescovo, saying there’s been hype in the media. Governor Mike Parson says he’ll move forward with the House and the Senate. The governor wrote a recent three-page letter, criticizing House GOP leaders for disrupting last week’s plans to hold the State […]
Governor Parson proposes converting closed Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron into training facility
The Associated Press reports the closed Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron may be turned into a training academy. A proposal from Missouri Governor Mike Parson’s budget plan includes $671,714 to convert the idle prison in Cameron into an academy that would train correctional officers before they get assigned to one of the state’s 20 prisons. […]
Missouri’s Governor Parson says unemployment benefits paid in error must be returned
(Missouri Independent) – Missourians who were mistakenly paid unemployment benefits by the state should be required to pay that money back, Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday. The Missouri Department of Labor told St. Louis Public Radio last week that the state overpaid roughly $96 million in unemployment benefits between January and September last year. The errors were […]
Audio: Missouri is now 11th in nation among those looking to open new business facilities
Missouri’s governor is touting the state’s numerous job expansions and attractions, saying they highlight the state’s increasingly competitive business climate: Governor Parson is also highlighting the expansions at Boeing in St. Charles and Ford in Claycomo. One of the biggest projects is in southwest Missouri’s Republic, where Amazon will open its first fulfillment […]
Audio: Medicaid expansion, COVID and early childhood highlight Missouri State of the State Address
Missouri’s governor is pledging to move forward with Medicaid expansion because voters approved it in August. GOP Governor Mike Parson, who campaigned against Medicaid expansion, emphasized the issue during his State of the State Address. Medicaid is a federal and state program that assists with medical costs for residents with limited incomes. 53 […]
Hawley wants an ethics probe of U.S. Senate Democrats who filed complaint against him
(Missouri Independent) – Seven U.S. Senate Democrats urged the chamber’s ethics panel last week to investigate Sen. Josh Hawley’s role in the pro-Trump assault on the Capitol. Now Hawley is calling for an ethics probe of the Democrats. In a Monday letter, Hawley argued that the Democrats filed an improper complaint last week against him and Sen. […]
Public interest groups sue EPA for re-approving controversial herbicide dicamba
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 […]
Audio: Missouri Congressman Jason Smith says “Impeaching Trump would fuel more hate and fire”
The U.S. House has voted today to impeach President Trump for the second time. House Democrats have led the effort after Trump urged rally supporters last week to march to the U.S. Capitol and “pressure” lawmakers to object to the election certification process. On the House floor today, southeast Missouri Republican Congressman Jason Smith, a […]
Audio: Missouri Capitol heightens security after FBI warning of armed protests; House discusses emergency plans
The Missouri Capitol has extra law enforcement keeping an eye on the building after reports of possible “armed protests” at all 50 state capitols and the U.S. Capitol. The increased presence follows an FBI warning of threats of an “uprising” in the days leading up to the January 20 inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden. During […]
Audio: Southeast Missouri lawmaker files pay raise resolution
A veteran southeast Missouri state lawmaker has filed a resolution, aimed at blocking proposed pay increases for state lawmakers and for statewide elected officials. Deering GOP State Representative Andrew McDaniel introduced his resolution on Monday. He has told Missourinet that state employees and teachers should be receiving a pay raise. He’s voted against […]
Audio: Former Missouri GOP Congressman signs onto letter calling for Trump to be impeached
At least 24 former Republican Congressional members, including one from Missouri, have signed onto a letter for the second time supporting the impeachment of President Trump. In the letter, former Missouri Congressman Tom Coleman and the other Republicans say there is no excuse for nor defense of a President to actively orchestrate an […]
Audio: Missouri Legislature’s 2021 session begins January 6
The Missouri Legislature’s new session begins Wednesday at the state Capitol in Jefferson City – with some COVID-19 measures. Senate President Dave Schatz of eastern Missouri’s Sullivan says health screenings will be done and temperatures will be checked when people enter the Capitol. Schatz, a Republican, says Senators are not required to wear […]
United States hog inventory down 1 percent
As of December 1, there were 77.5 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms, down 1 percent from December 2019 and down 1 percent from September 1, 2020, according to the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Other key findings in the report were: Of […]
Audio: People who destroy or steal political yard signs might have to pay up in Missouri
People who destroy or steal political yard signs might have to pay up in Missouri. The offense is already a class four misdemeanor. Bill sponsor, State Representative Sara Walsh wants to require a person found guilty of the offense to also pay the sign owner $500 or the actual cost of the sign, whichever amount […]
University of Missouri Extension to help expand mental health resources in rural areas
Missouri’s rural counties lack mental health services despite growing financial stress and suicide rates with all of Missouri’s 99 rural counties facing a shortage of mental health professionals; 57 of them have none. The University of Missouri Extension hopes to change that through a multistate project to help farmers, ranchers, and farm families find affordable […]
Missouri families face added pressure to meet basic needs
The ability to meet basic needs is out-of-reach for many Missouri families because of the pandemic. The challenges facing households with children are detailed in a new national report. This week, the Annie E. Casey Foundation released findings for all states, using weekly Census survey data on such topics as food insecurity and housing instability. One […]
Audio: Hawley’s attempt to give $1,200 payments to Americans has been blocked
Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson has blocked an effort co-sponsored by Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley that would give 1,200-dollar direct stimulus payments to many Americans. Johnson’s move comes as lawmakers in Washington continue to work on another coronavirus stimulus package. On the Senate floor today, Hawley, a fellow Republican, says what he is proposing […]