Second District State Representative J. Eggleston of Maysville has announced his intention to run for the State Senate in 2022. Other media outlets report Republican Eggleston is seeking the seat currently held by 12th District State Senator Dan Hegeman of Cosby, who is also a Republican. Hegeman cannot run again due to term limits. Senate […]
(Missouri Independent) – A bipartisan coalition handed anti-abortion activists a rare defeat in the Missouri Senate Friday night, rejecting a push to ban Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider as it passed a bill to secure billions for the state’s Medicaid program. And only a restatement of the state’s already existing ban on using public funds to […]
Congressman Sam Graves (R-MO), Ranking Member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, joined Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member Congressman David Rouzer (R-NC) and other top Republican leaders in outlining their concerns regarding the Biden administration’s intention to undo the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule. The Biden administration’s recent announcement signaled its intent […]
After about three hours of testimony Thursday, the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee approved two bills to extend medical provider taxes vital to funding the state’s share of Medicaid. The first bill brought up for a vote would extend the taxes for five years, limit the types of contraceptives available to women on Medicaid and block Planned Parenthood from […]
The governor has called a special legislative session to extend a key funding mechanism for Missouri’s Medicaid program, warning that failure to extend the FRA would cost Missouri 591-million dollars in the fiscal year 2022. The FRA is the state’s Federal Reimbursement Allowance. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz says lawmakers have been working on […]
(Missouri Independent) – A special session to extend provider taxes essential to the state’s Medicaid program will begin at noon Wednesday, Gov. Mike Parson announced Tuesday afternoon. The announcement was issued just minutes after a noon deadline set by Parson on Monday. The call came after seven members of the Senate Conservative Caucus sent him a letter demanding […]
(Missouri Independent) – Gov. Mike Parson gave lawmakers a deadline of noon Tuesday to strike a deal to renew medical provider taxes vital to funding Medicaid or accept responsibility for more than $700 million in cuts from the state budget that takes effect July 1. If not, the governor says he will freeze funding in Missouri’s […]
(Missouri Independent) – Last Tuesday, Republicans appeared to have reached a fragile consensus around extending a tax crucial to Missouri’s Medicaid finances — opening the door for Gov. Mike Parson to call lawmakers into a special session this week. By Friday afternoon, June 18, that consensus appears to have been derailed, at least temporarily, by disagreements […]
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law legislation declaring a legal public holiday annually on June 19, the date of the end of slavery in the U.S. known as Juneteenth. “Throughout history, Juneteenth has been known by many names—Jubilee Day, Freedom Day, Liberation Day,” Vice President Kamala Harris said at the […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri lawmakers appear to be headed into a special session next week to renew medical provider taxes vital to sustaining the state’s Medicaid program. Gov. Mike Parson met Tuesday with the state Senate Republican caucus. The group discussed language that would bar the state from paying for some contraceptive medications and devices and extend […]
(Missouri Independent) – Retired St. Louis Judge Evelyn Baker once sentenced a 16-year-old Black boy to 241 years in prison for two armed robberies. No one was seriously injured in the robberies, but the boy “didn’t express any remorse,” Baker said, remembering the sentencing hearing. Now, when she thinks back, Baker deeply regrets the sentence […]
(Missouri Independent) – Vicky Hartzler made her entry into the 2022 U.S. Senate race official Thursday, kicking off her campaign at a firearms store surrounded by supporters. One day before Republicans gather in Kansas City for their annual Lincoln Days meetings, Hartzler said her experience in Congress will make her the best candidate over the […]
(Missouri Independent) – For years after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, activists and community leaders have pushed to “re-envision public safety.” Inspired in part by the Ferguson Commission, which recommended that cities focus more resources on the root causes of crime, organizers across the state echoed these calls. But they largely fell on deaf ears. […]
The Republican primary for the U.S. Senate in Missouri could end up including a crowded field of candidates. West-central Missouri Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler is holding a “special campaign announcement” Thursday morning near Kansas City. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, former Governor Eric Greitens, and St. Louis attorney Mark McCloskey have already announced a bid for […]
A federal appeals court has upheld today the temporary blocking of Missouri’s eight-week abortion ban. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis issued the ruling about the regulations passed by the Missouri Legislature in 2019 for abortions around eight weeks of pregnancy. Under House Bill 126, sponsored by O’Fallon Republican […]
Starting Saturday, Missouri will no longer offer additional federal pandemic unemployment benefits. A growing number of Republican-controlled states have chosen to end the federal aid that added $300 per week. Last month, Governor Parson announced the decision because he said the extra funding is causing worker shortages among some Missouri businesses. Missouri House […]
(Missouri Independent) – Even the stuffy, florid name of the procedure, “filibuster” sounds like something conceived around a table of wig-wearing Founding Fathers. While the name has its roots in the 18th Century (with pirates nonetheless), the concept and practice in the United States Senate is much younger, not being implemented in a modern form until […]
(Missouri Independent) – Missouri and Kansas residents’ utility bills may be helping to bankroll the energy sector lobbying against policies aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Federal and state rules prohibit utility companies from passing their lobbying costs on to customers through bills. But in both Kansas and Missouri, utilities like Evergy, Ameren, and Spire […]
Even with other events in the area but with near-perfect weather on Saturday, the Trenton Police Department hosted 47 local children at the 9th Annual Cops ‘N Bobbers fishing event. Numerous fish were caught as area kids spent the morning of June 5th, 2021, fishing with the men and women of the Trenton Police Department […]
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) along with Senators Jacky Rosen (Nev.) and James Lankford (Okla.) introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning recent antisemitic incidents in the U.S. and around the world. The resolution also calls on leaders to denounce antisemitism and take specific steps to address it and prevent it. “The recent rise in acts of […]
