(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 […]
(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 Independent) – Missouri’s record general revenue surplus was off-limits for spending plans as the House Budget Committee worked Thursday, defeating Democratic efforts to give boost money for public schools and state colleges. The only significant addition to education budgets approved by the committee was to restart the teacher Career Ladder program, providing $21 million to give experienced […]
Governor Mike Parson announced an end to the COVID-19 crisis in Missouri and that the state will be shifting to an endemic phase of the pandemic on Friday, April 1, 2022. A whole-of-government COVID-19 emergency response was taken for more than two years, an effort that responded to the needs of all Missourians during the […]
The Missouri Attorney General joined 20 other states in a multistate action against President Biden’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s continued use of the unlawful mask mandate on public transportation. The attorneys general argue that the mandate exceeds the authority of the CDC. The Biden administration continues to use a failed interpretation of a […]
(Missouri Independent) – When the Good Samaritan Care Clinic opened in 2006 in Mountain View, only about 5% of the free clinic’s clients were eligible for Medicaid. When it closed late last year, that number had risen to 70%, Dr. John Roberts, one of the clinic’s founders, told the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. Medicaid […]
Missouri state lawmakers have various tax-cutting and tax credit proposals to consider this session. As Joey Parker tells us, some legislators have been working years to make changes to the state’s tax code. Other tax credit proposals are geared at those who don’t have a badge. St. Louis Senator Steven Roberts sponsors Senate […]
(Missouri Independent) – Seventeen Republican members of Congress have sued the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seeking an end to the federal rule requiring passengers on commercial flights and in airports to wear masks. The mandate illegally restricts the lawmakers’ freedom and is not backed by legal authority, they said in the suit filed Monday. […]
To help prevent the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), the Missouri Department of Agriculture has suspended all domestic waterfowl and waterfowl egg auctions, shows, and swap meets through the end of May. Federal officials have confirmed cases of HPAI in Stoddard, Bates, Jasper, and Lawrence Counties. HPAI is known to be deadly for […]
(Missouri Independent) – Democrats and Republicans forged an agreement early Wednesday on a spending package that will fund the government for the next eight months, as well as provide billions in emergency funding for COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. The announcement means Congress should be able to avert a government shutdown when a spending […]
Some Missouri lawmakers are pushing for changes to the state’s Sunshine Law. A measure sponsored by Senator Andrew Koenig of Manchester would shield public records identifying any student under age 18, details about government security measures, and contact information of Missourians who sign up for government communications and public utility bills. Other bills […]
(Missouri Independent) – It was just after 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 10, when the forms arrived from the state treasurer’s office. Without warning, and with little explanation, school superintendents discovered they were now required to certify their district had complied with Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s demands to drop all COVID-19 mitigation measures, such as […]
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden authorized on Tuesday the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, part of an international boost to the global oil supply that has been disrupted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The reserve is a complex of four sites with deep underground storage caverns in salt […]
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden used his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night to reassert America as a leading global voice for democracy and condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin for starting an “unprovoked” war in Ukraine. “Throughout our history, we’ve learned this lesson – when dictators do not pay a price […]
A former Delaware doctor was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for unlawful drug distribution and maintaining a drug-involved premises. Patrick Titus, 58, of Milford, was convicted by a federal jury in July 2021 of 13 counts of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances and one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises. “This sentence […]
(Missouri Independent) – Congress is working quickly to determine how much military and humanitarian aid it should send to Ukraine as the war in that country continues to claim lives and send hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing as refugees. Lawmakers are working with the Biden administration to provide billions in funding at the same […]
(Missouri Independent) – Americans may be tempted to view the war in Ukraine as an unfortunate, but far away, crisis. As an economist, I know the world is too connected for the U.S. to go unaffected. On Feb. 22, 2022, President Joe Biden warned Americans that a Russian invasion of Ukraine – and U.S. efforts to thwart or […]
Experts say Missouri ranks low among states when it comes to steps it has taken to improve accessibility in voting. Denise Lieberman, director and general counsel of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, which has a disability-rights committee, said people with disabilities face barriers at all stages of the voting process, from registering to vote to […]
Missouri poultry producers, both commercial and backyard flocks, are encouraged to review and tighten biosecurity protocols in light of the avian influenza virus confirmation in birds east of the Mississippi River. Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 is known to be deadly for domesticated chickens and turkeys. Avian influenza was confirmed in a commercial chicken operation […]
(Missouri Independent) – On the Friday before a drawn-out confirmation battle ended with his ouster from office, Missouri state Health Director Donald Kauerauf wrote an impassioned letter meant to convince conservative legislators who were on the fence about his appointment. The message: While he believed in vaccines and data and science, he didn’t believe in vaccine […]
