(Missouri Independent) – The Giffords gun safety organization has sued the National Rifle Association and the campaigns of U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana, alleging the group used shell corporations to improperly aid the Republican lawmakers in 2018. The suit alleges two NRA affiliates made up to $35 million in illegal […]
Tag: rule
Corizon loses challenge to Missouri prisoner medical care contract award worth $1.4 billion
(Missouri Independent) – The company providing health care to state prisoners failed to prove a competitor misled state purchasing officers to win the $1.4 billion contract, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled Thursday. Corizon Health, which has been the state’s vendor for prisoner medical needs since 1992, accused the state Purchasing Division of giving the contract […]
Federal grand jury subpoenas sought records from Missouri medical marijuana regulators
(Missouri Independent) – Twice last year a federal grand jury demanded the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services turn over records pertaining to the medical marijuana program. The pair of subpoenas, issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri in September 2020, were redacted by the department at the […]
Audio: Missouri Supreme Court deciding whether local leaders can spend public money on ballot measures
The Missouri Supreme Court is considering whether local elected officials should be banned from spending public money to campaign in support of or opposition to candidates and ballot measures. Some St. Louis County area elected officials filed a lawsuit in 2019 saying the state law violates the free speech rights of local leaders. Attorney Paul […]
Smithfield withdraws request for CAFO permits environmentalists criticized as too lax
(Missouri Independent) – The global meat producer operating some of Missouri’s largest industrial hog operations has withdrawn requests to convert 10 of its permits to what environmental groups say would be more lenient ones. Smithfield Foods Inc., which has a history of environmental violations in Missouri, operates some of the largest concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, in the […]
Audio: Case adding greater protections for rape survivors heads to Missouri Supreme Court
A case heads to the Missouri Supreme Court this week about a state law adding greater protections for sexual assault survivors. The Missouri Supreme Court will hear a case Tuesday about a 2020 law known as the “Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights”. The law streamlines the testing and tracking of rape kits […]
Biden pitches new $1.75 trillion spending blueprint to Democrats that drops paid family leave
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden is meeting with congressional Democrats on Capitol Hill Thursday morning to pitch lawmakers on a new slimmed-down framework for what would be included in a massive social reform package, according to senior administration officials. The $1.75 trillion blueprint that Biden is presenting to Democrats includes a universal pre-K program for 3-and-4 […]
Eric Greitens accused of illegally funneling $100K to his Senate campaign
(Missouri Independent) – A Washington, D.C., campaign finance watchdog has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens alleging he improperly spent more than $100,000 on his U.S. Senate campaign. The complaint, filed Thursday by Campaign Legal Center, contends that Greitens has been illegally using leftover money from his gubernatorial […]
Missouri Public Service Commission’s Cold Weather Rule takes effect November 1
The Missouri Public Service Commission’s Cold Weather Rule, designed to help customers with heat-related utility bills, begins on November 1, 2021. The rule will remain in effect through March 31, 2022. It has been a part of the Commission’s rules and regulations since 1977. The Cold Weather Rule applies to natural gas and electric utilities […]
Missouri Attorney General announces he will file suit over federal contractor vaccine mandate
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced his intention to file suit to halt the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and federally contracted employees: “My Office has been a national leader in pushing back on federal overreach and mask mandates, stopping power-hungry bureaucrats in their tracks. The Biden Administration is seeking to use the full […]
Missouri Attorney General joins suit against Biden Administration to stop federal funding of abortions
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt yesterday joined a lawsuit brought by Ohio and ten other states against the Biden Administration, challenging a federal rule change that would allow taxpayer dollars to be used to encourage and support abortions. The lawsuit, filed yesterday in the U.S. Southern District of Ohio, seeks to reinstate rule changes made […]
Missouri Attorney General Joins fight against Jefferson County Health Department and student quarantine rules
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed an amicus brief in Shannon Otto v. Jefferson County Health Department, fighting student quarantine rules put in place by the Jefferson County Department of Health. The brief argues that the quarantine rules fall under the new state law limiting health authorities’ power to enact mandates and that the rules […]
Missouri and Texas Attorney Generals file suit to require Biden Administration to build border wall
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, along with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, filed suit against the Biden Administration for refusing to spend money appropriated to continue to build the wall on the southwest border as the border crisis continues to worsen. The lawsuit aims to force the Biden Administration to resume construction on the border […]
Planned Parenthood wants feds to block Missouri rule targeting its Medicaid funding
(Missouri Independent) – Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri is calling for the Biden administration to intervene to block the state’s new emergency regulation that abortion advocates contend could cut off Medicaid funding for its clinics around the state. Without federal action, Planned Parenthood said it may need to turn to the courts. […]
How a Mississippi court case could pave the way for new abortion bans across the U.S.
(Missouri Independent) – A six-week abortion ban in Texas enacted in September forced those seeking abortion services in the Lone Star State to look across state lines for care. But the timing couldn’t have been worse for Texans living near the state’s eastern border. The law took effect as neighboring Louisiana was reeling from the […]
University of Missouri System allows classroom mask mandate to expire
(Missouri Independent) – The University of Missouri System allowed a mask mandate for its four campuses to expire after Friday, October 15, 2021. Last month, the Board of Curators extended a rule that face masks be worn in classrooms by a 5-4 vote. That policy was scheduled to end at the close of Friday, and a meeting […]
Missouri governor vows criminal prosecution of reporter who found flaw in state website
(Missouri Independent) – On Tuesday, a reporter with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch alerted the state that Social Security numbers of school teachers and administrators were vulnerable to public exposure due to flaws on a website maintained by Missouri’s department of education. The newspaper agreed to hold off publishing any story while the department fixed the problem and […]
Planned Parenthood wants feds to block Missouri rule targeting its Medicaid funding
(Missouri Independent) – Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri is calling for the Biden administration to intervene to block the state’s new emergency regulation that abortion advocates contend could cut off Medicaid funding for its clinics around the state. Without federal action, Planned Parenthood said it may need to turn to the courts. […]
Judge blocks residency rule for Missouri medical marijuana licenses
(Missouri Independent) – A federal judge last week permanently blocked Missouri from enforcing a requirement that medical marijuana licenses go to businesses owned by residents of the state. Following a bench trial Thursday, U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey agreed to grant a permanent injunction. Her written order has not yet been filed. News of the injunction […]
Only 4300 are covered of the 17,000 applicants in the 1st week of Medicaid expansion registration.
(Missouri Independent) – Roughly 4,300 Missourians eligible for health care under Medicaid expansion have been enrolled, a top Missouri Medicaid official said Thursday. That figure represents a little over a quarter of the more than 17,000 applications the state has received since it began accepting applications for Medicaid expansion coverage in August, the Centers for […]