Legislation establishing a Second Amendment Preservation Act is expected to hit the Missouri Senate floor either this week or next week, according to Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz. Schatz spoke to Missourinet Sullivan affiliate KTUI Radio. Battlefield GOP State Senator Eric Burlison’s bill declares that it’s the duty of the courts and […]
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Audio: Hawley votes against legislation designed to fight hate crimes against Asian Americans
Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley has voted against legislation designed to fight hate crimes against Asian Americans. Hawley, a Republican, was one of only six lawmakers who opposed the measure. Hate crimes against Asian Americans have been increasingly reported during the pandemic and the bill would speed up a U.S. Department of Justice […]
Senators Hawley and Blunt urge FEMA to open mass vaccination site in Kansas City
Missouri U.S. Senators Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt sent a letter today to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) urging the establishment of a mass vaccination site in Kansas City, Mo., through the Federal Pilot Community Vaccination Centers (CVC) program. The letter comes after recent requests to FEMA from Governor Mike Parson and Kansas City Mayor Quinton […]
Lawmakers introduce legislation to support U.S. manufacturers
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Rob Portman (Ohio), James Lankford (Okla.), and James Inhofe (Okla.) announced that they have introduced the Permanently Preserving America’s Investment in Manufacturing Act of 2021. The bill would ensure that American manufacturers can continue to make large investments, hire workers, and produce goods in the United States. “The strength of […]
Video: Lawmakers introduce bill to subject Major League Baseball to antitrust Laws
U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have introduced a bill to remove the antitrust exemption that has been in place for Major League Baseball to subject them to existing law. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), with over 20 cosponsors, has produced companion legislation in the House. “MLB […]
Lawmakers introduce bill to make breast cancer diagnostic tests more accessible and affordable
U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) announced that they have introduced the bipartisan Access to Breast Cancer Diagnosis Act. The legislation would make breast cancer diagnostic tests more accessible and affordable. “Early breast cancer detection saves lives,” said Blunt. “Unfortunately, many Americans had to postpone preventive care – including breast cancer screenings […]
Area COVID-19 clinics likely to see vaccine supplies “tighten up” due to pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccine
A pause in the administration of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will affect area vaccinations. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a joint statement recommending the pause out of caution after six cases of reported blood clots in female patients. Grundy County Health Department Administrator Elizabeth […]
Audio: Missouri House passes bill intended to help the state’s growing HIV problem
Missouri pharmacists could be allowed to give HIV preexposure and postexposure medication without a prescription. The state House has unanimously passed a bill that would allow them to provide customers with a 30-day supply once every two years. Representative Phil Christofanelli, a Republican from St. Peters, is sponsoring the bill. Christofanelli, who is openly gay, […]
Legislation creating needle exchange program to be heard by Missouri House
Bipartisan legislation creating a hypodermic needle exchange program will be heard by a Missouri House committee Tuesday afternoon in Jefferson City. State Sen. Holly Rehder (R-Scott City), who has sponsored the bill for several years, will testify before the Missouri House Emerging Issues Committee. Her two-page Senate Bill 64 has already received final approval from the Missouri […]
Senator Hawley introduces the “Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act”
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act, new legislation to take back control from big business and return it to the American people. Senator Hawley’s bill will crack down on mergers and acquisitions by mega-corporations and strengthen antitrust enforcement to pursue the breakup of dominant, anticompetitive firms. Senator Hawley […]
Audio: Senator Dan Hegeman presents information on Missouri fiscal year 2022 operating budget
State Senator Dan Hegeman of Cosby recently discussed work on Missouri’s Fiscal Year 2022 operating budget. Hegeman added the state budget always starts in the Missouri House of Representatives. After the Missouri Senate produces its own version of the budget, it has a conference committee with the Missouri House. […]
Audio: Prescription drug monitoring program passes Missouri Senate
Senators Cindy O’Laughlin and Denny Hoskins were among the no votes. O’Laughlin says she still has concerns over the proposal that’s sponsored by Senator Holly Rehder. Missouri is the only state without this type of prescription drug tracking program. Senator Rehder has been working on the legislation for close to a […]
Audio: Missouri Senate passes transportation package with vaccine passport ban, vehicle safety inspection change
The state Senate has passed a transportation package that would ban entities in Missouri from requiring a vaccine passport to access transportation services. Companies are developing vaccine passports to encourage travel. Springfield-area state Senator Lincoln Hough is sponsoring the legislation that would also waive safety inspection requirements for new vehicles immediately before the vehicle is […]
Lawmakers introduce legislation defending universities from the Chinese Communist Party’s influence
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) joined Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) in introducing the Transparency for Confucius Institutes Act. The Chinese Communist Party funds and operates 55 Confucius Institutes at colleges and universities across America. They allow the CCP to influence what college students are taught and […]
Todd Graves approved for University of Missouri curators despite bipartisan filibuster
(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 […]
State vaccination teams surpass one-quarter million doses of vaccine administered to Missouri residents
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 […]
Audio: Missouri Senate Education Committee Chair wants community colleges to get more core funding
The Missouri Legislature is making its way through the state budget process. Shelbina State Senator Cindy O’Laughlin says she would like Missouri’s community colleges to get an increase in core funding from the state. O’Laughlin is the chair of the Senate Education Committee. O’Laughlin, of northeast Missouri’s Shelbina, uses Moberly Area Community College […]
Audio: Hawley calls war film a “two-and-a-half hour whine-a-thon about the first Gulf War”
A 2005 blog post by Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley has been uncovered in which he called the film “Jarhead” a “two-and-a-half-hour whine-a-thon about the first Gulf War.” The film Jarhead is based on the memoir of former U.S. Marine Anthony Swofford. CNN reports Hawley called Swofford a protagonist who whines about the […]
Audio: Parson’s pick for University of Missouri Board of Curators having an uphill battle in Missouri Senate
The governor’s choice to serve on the University of Missouri System Board of Curators is having an uphill battle in the state Senate. Senators on both sides of the aisle blocked an attempt last week to consider the nomination of Todd Graves to the University of Missouri System Board of Curators. Graves, a former state […]
Missouri EATs helps communities strengthen local food systems
Erica Williams, the founder of a nonprofit urban agriculture program in North St. Louis County, had a vision of how to reclaim a community that had suffered through disinvestment and neglect. Across the state in Clay County, Smithville’s mayor hoped amenities like a farmers market would help reinvigorate the small city 20 miles north of […]