Voters in Missouri approved a ballot initiative expanding Medicaid. If the state funds it, Missouri will be on track to receive more than $1 billion in federal incentives. As lawmakers continue their debate on whether to fund voter-approved Medicaid expansion in Missouri, pediatricians say lack of access to high-quality health care can lead to long-lasting […]
(Missouri Independent) – Help may be coming for Missouri homeowners behind on their mortgage payments because of COVID-19 income losses. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday added $150 million in federal mortgage assistance funds to the supplemental spending bill for the current fiscal year, one of several new sections using money from pandemic relief bills passed by Congress […]
(Missouri Independent) – On the heels of a historic cold snap that left thousands across the Midwest without power, Kansas and Missouri residents could soon reap the benefits of a massive high-powered transmission line delivering renewable energy. Grain Belt Express, a project a decade in the making, is starting to acquire land along its route spanning […]
(Missouri Independent) – As bills expanding charter schools and creating new scholarship accounts for private school tuition make their way through the process, one piece of legislation is trying to give students more options within the public schools that already exist. House Bill 543, sponsored by Rep. Brad Pollitt, R-Sedalia, would establish the “Public School […]
(Missouri Independent) – Use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 shot will remain paused for at least a week after a federal vaccine advisory panel said Wednesday that it had too little data on a rare but serious blood-clotting condition reported in at least six women. That means states and federally run vaccine sites will […]
Just two days after being grilled again by state lawmakers in both parties, the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DOLIR) is suspending all collection of unemployment overpayments, at this time. Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight Chairman State Rep. Jered Taylor (R-Nixa) made the announcement on the House floor Thursday in Jefferson City, […]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration on April 13, 2021, halted the use of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine that has been given to 6.8 million people in the U.S. The pause is due to reports of blood clotting in six people who have received the […]
The Thompson River Bridge on Route 190, just west of Chillicothe, will narrow beginning tomorrow, Thursday, April 15, for completion of a bridge rehabilitation project. The bridge was rehabilitated last year as part of Gov. Mike Parson’s $351 million Focus on Bridges program, which will repair or replace 250 bridges across the state. The bridge, […]
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM) thank the thousands of Missouri deer hunters who donated 238,920 pounds of venison to the state’s Share the Harvest program this past deer season, including 4,787 whole deer. MDC and CFM also thank the participating meat processors throughout the state who grind […]
The chairman of a Missouri House oversight committee says the case of a bus driver who won his appeal with the state Department of Labor over unemployment overpayments will have large implications. Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight Chair Jered Taylor of Nixa tells the state labor director there are hundreds of cases just […]
Ducks Unlimited and numerous partners invested more than $575,000 to protect, enhance or restore 1,926 acres of wetland and grassland habitat in Missouri in 2020, greatly improving water quality and wildlife habitat. The milestones in 2020 were achieved with field staff taking extra precautions and using creative solutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The acres […]
The following is a list of general highway maintenance and construction work the Missouri Department of Transportation has planned in North Missouri for the week of April 12 – 18. All road closures and planned roadwork may be viewed on the Traveler Information Map at http://traveler.modot.org/map/. Inclement weather may cause schedule changes in some of […]
All Missouri adults become eligible to get vaccinated today (Friday). Another one-point-one million Missourians are eligible to get their coronavirus vaccination. Now that Phase Three has launched, Missourians 16 and older can get the Pfizer vaccine and anyone 18 and older can get the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Missouri launched its […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
A coalition that’s dedicated to improving the well-being of Missouri children is praising the Missouri House’s bipartisan approval of a 76-million dollar increase for foster and adoptive children. Kids Win Missouri policy director Craig Stevenson says the House budget includes unprecedented support for the kinship and foster families who care for the 14,000 children in […]
State of Missouri vaccination teams supporting mass and targeted vaccination events across the state have now administered more than one-quarter million vaccines to Missourians. This total is in addition to vaccines administered by high throughput health centers, local public health agencies, federally qualified health centers, pharmacies, and other community enrolled providers. “Our state teams have been […]
Missouri’s House Budget Committee learned details today (Tuesday) about a budget blueprint from Chairman Cody Smith to use dollars slated for Medicaid expansion for other programs instead. Funding includes 26-million dollars for adult daycare and home-delivered meals. Chairman Smith testifies the funding also includes 88-million dollars for nursing home care. This involves a […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency announces the availability of $2 million to establish partnerships with organizations to provide outreach and technical assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. The funding was made possible by USDA’s new Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, an effort to distribute resources more broadly and to put greater […]
The Missouri House has passed a 34-point-one billion-dollar state operating budget that includes a big pay raise for some hard-to-fill Department of Corrections jobs. On top of the requested two-percent salary boost for all state workers, some Corrections food service workers, officers, sergeants, and lieutenants would get anywhere from a nearly six percent to an […]
