The trial of Derek Chauvin enters a new phase today, as opening statements are scheduled in the case of the former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd. Those demanding diversity among juries sees this trial as a step in the right direction. The 12 jurors and 3 alternates seated over the past couple of […]
Workers and small-business owners are voicing opposition to a bill before the Legislature that would tie Missouri’s minimum wage to the federal minimum wage, reversing a voter-approved increase to $12 an hour by 2023. Terrence Wise, a McDonald’s worker in Kansas City and a leader of the Service Employees International Union’s “Fight for 15 and a […]
Legislation that requires a photo ID and the use of a paper ballot was given final approval by the Missouri House in Jefferson City on Thursday. The vote, primarily along party lines, was 109-48. House Bill 738 is sponsored by veteran State Rep. Don Rone (R-Portageville), who represents the Bootheel. Rone was unable to make it to the […]
The Missouri House Budget Committee has voted against funding for Medicaid expansion in the next fiscal year. The committee, made up of mostly Republicans, has voted down 1.6-billion dollars in funding for Medicaid expansion in the next state budget cycle. Last year, 53-percent of Missouri voters approved a ballot measure to expand government-funded […]
In 2018, 62-percent of Missouri voters approved a gradual minimum wage hike of $12.00 an hour by 2023. A state House committee is considering a bill that would delay the full increase by three years. During a committee hearing, Representative Allen Andrews of northwest Missouri’s Grant City says he supports the bill. He says his […]
A Missouri House committee will hear testimony Wednesday afternoon in Jefferson City on a proposed constitutional amendment that would change the state’s legislative term limits. In 1992, Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment known as Amendment 12, which established term limits. The term limits approved in 1992 remain in effect today. Missouri lawmakers […]
(Missouri Independent) – The House Budget Committee will submit its revisions to Gov. Mike Parson’s $34.1 billion state operating budget to the full House this week without the benefit of clear guidelines for spending new infusions of federal cash. The committee must also decide whether and how it will use a record general revenue surplus. The fund’s cash balance […]
(Missouri Independent) – U.S. Rep. Debra Haaland made history on Monday when she became the first Native American to ever be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to hold a position in a president’s Cabinet. In a narrow 51-40 vote, senators confirmed Haaland, a New Mexico Democrat, to serve as secretary of the interior, where she […]
The Missouri House has given initial approval to a bill that would ban judges from changing ballot language written by the Legislature. The proposal follows two Missouri courts rewriting language for a controversial legislative redistricting measure passed by voters last fall. Bill sponsor John Wiemann, a Republican from O’Fallon, and Hillsdale Democrat Kevin Windham debated […]
More than 5,800 people from Grundy County will be eligible to vote in the April 6th election, with a total of 5,859 certified by the county clerk’s office. That’s the same number as those eligible for last November’s general election. There will be eight polling locations in Grundy county for April 6th in-person voting, with […]
(Missouri Independent) – Roy Blunt’s announcement that he won’t seek a third term certainly shook up Republican politics in Missouri, sparking nearly every GOP elected official in the state to publicly mull jumping into the campaign. Democrats aren’t immune from the speculation. While any Democrat would face an uphill fight, the chance of a messy […]
Missouri expects to spend roughly 12.4 million dollars during the current and next state budget years to fight legal battles involving the state’s new medical marijuana program. That is money that could be going to help veterans, as spelled out in the ballot measure voters passed in 2018. During a House Budget Committee hearing, the […]
The Grundy County Commission has voted to remove from the policy book that Grundy County employees have to live in the county to work in the county. Elected officials, by statute, must live in Grundy County for at least one year before holding an office. They must also be a registered voter.
Missouri lawmakers in both parties were surprised to learn Wednesday that absentee ballots cast by voters who later died should NOT have counted, under current state law. The issue came up numerous times during a Missouri House elections committee hearing on Wednesday. Carrollton GOP State Representative Peggy McGaugh and her colleagues in both parties […]
A Missouri proposal aims to limit who transgender high school athletes can compete against. Rocheport Republican Chuck Basye wants to let voters decide in 2022 whether the students should be restricted to play in sex-separated sports based upon their biological sex. During a House committee hearing, a few opponents said the Missouri State […]
Legislation to eliminate Missouri’s presidential preference primary has been heard in a House committee in Jefferson City. The bill is sponsored by State Representative Peggy McGaugh of northwest Missouri’s Carrollton, who says it would save state taxpayers nine-million dollars. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft supports McGaugh’s proposal. Missouri has used the presidential preference […]
Missouri voters could decide who sits on the state board of education – not the governor. Eureka Republican Representative Dottie Bailey is proposing to let voters choose board members during each general election of a presidential election year. A House committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the measure. St. Louis Democrat Ian […]
A Missouri House committee will meet Monday to discuss whether they’ll hear remote testimony this week on legislation involving transgender high school athletes. Rocheport GOP State Representative Chuck Basye is sponsoring the House joint resolution and says this is an important issue. Basye’s legislation would require that students who participate in sex-separated athletic […]
(Missouri Independent) – The eyes of the nation turned to U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley over the holidays when he became the first senator to announce an objection to the certification of presidential electors. But the eyes of local politicos turned instead to his home-state colleague, Missouri’s senior senator. How would Roy Blunt — up for […]
(Missouri Independent) – About 137,700 registered voters in Missouri did not have a state-issued identification in 2017, according to an analysis from the Secretary of State’s Office. Another 140,000 voters had expired IDs, and 2,000 more voters had forfeited their driver’s licenses. Under a bill passed Wednesday in the Missouri House, those registered voters would either have to […]
