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Some Republican states resist DOJ demand for private voter data

1 hour 52 minutes ago
When the U.S. Department of Justice asked Kansas Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab to turn over a copy of his state’s full voter list, including sensitive personal data, he responded with gratitude for the Trump administration. “We appreciate the efforts of DOJ and other federal partners to assist in ensuring states have access to […]
Jonathan Shorman

DACA recipients swept up in Trump mass deportation campaign, advocates report

2 hours 52 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — Advocates Thursday raised alarm over immigrants with special deportation protections facing detainment across the country, as the Trump administration continues its aggressive mass deportation campaign.  Home is Here, a coalition of advocates for immigrants with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, status, has documented a pattern of immigration agents targeting DACA recipients. […]
Ariana Figueroa

Missouri police officers often stay licensed after serious misconduct

3 hours 53 minutes ago
Two St. Louis police officers hit a handcuffed man and shocked him with a Taser, leading to a $600,000 settlement. A deputy in southwest Missouri was convicted of assaulting another deputy’s wife. An officer in southeast Missouri who kicked a man on the ground and wrote a misleading report was fired.  They kept their Missouri […]
Katie Moore

Court battle looms over KC precinct listed twice in Missouri’s new congressional map

21 hours 20 minutes ago
Gov. Mike Kehoe went on the offensive Wednesday against critics of the new congressional map approved by Missouri lawmakers, issuing a statement seeking to rebut charges that one Kansas City precinct was accidentally placed in two different districts. The ACLU of Missouri, in a case filed last week in Jackson County, argues that the bill […]
Rudi Keller

Permanent extension of federal health care subsidies estimated to cost $350 billion

23 hours 5 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office announced Thursday that if lawmakers permanently extend the enhanced tax credits for certain people who buy their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, it would cost the government $350 billion over 10 years and increase the number of those with health insurance by 3.8 million. The […]
Jennifer Shutt

US rolls toward a ‘terrible’ government shutdown, no exit ramp in sight

23 hours 5 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have entered a stalemate over whether to fund the government for seven weeks or begin a shutdown that could last considerably longer, amid high partisan tensions. Lawmakers, it seems, did not learn from two earlier shutdowns that produced zero results for Republicans who tried to force their […]
Jennifer Shutt

More states protect access to the COVID shot as feds restrict eligibility

1 day 1 hour ago
At least 17 states have taken steps to ensure broader access to the COVID-19 vaccine since last month, when the federal government significantly restricted eligibility for the shot. Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin have issued orders that aim […]
Shalina Chatlani

As AI enters exam rooms, states step up oversight

1 day 2 hours ago
A bipartisan group of Pennsylvania state legislators recently hatched a plan to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in health care. Four Pennsylvania House Democrats and one House Republican plan to introduce legislation that would require insurers, hospitals and other providers to follow certain rules when using AI for patient care, billing and coding, claims […]
Anna Claire Vollers

Public education leaders guide task force studying Missouri school funding

1 day 4 hours ago
Additional public education experts are joining discussions on the future of the state’s school funding formula as work groups convene for bi-monthly meetings. Gov. Mike Kehoe created the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force in an executive order in January and appointed members from a wide swath of backgrounds, including a leader from the Missouri […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Protesters rally against $12B cut to education in Trump plan, US House bill

1 day 18 hours ago
WASHINGTON — Democratic U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Delia Ramirez of Illinois joined advocates Wednesday outside the U.S. Capitol to blast proposed cuts to education spending. The lawmakers and demonstrators rebuked a congressional spending panel’s bill that calls for $12 billion in spending cuts at the Education Department for the coming fiscal year and […]
Shauneen Miranda

Former CDC chief says she was fired for resisting RFK Jr. orders on vaccines

1 day 19 hours ago
WASHINGTON — Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez testified before a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday that she was fired after just 29 days because she refused to pre-approve vaccine recommendations or fire career officials for no reason.  Monarez, who was nominated by President Donald Trump earlier this year and confirmed by […]
Jennifer Shutt

Missouri workers can bet on paying more for health insurance next year

2 days 4 hours ago
Tania Hewett-Mader, who owns Alma Mader Brewing with her husband, believes providing health benefits to her employees is the right thing to do. “That’s part of our values — taking good care of our people,” she said. “Not only for their sake, but to be competitive in the market.” But two years ago, after the […]
Suzanne King

Oligarchical abuse in the Missouri Capitol

2 days 4 hours ago
For nearly three decades I have been a volunteer constitutional conservative, small government, free market watchdog at the Missouri Capitol, and in all that time I have never seen the level of abuse of power I witnessed during the two special sessions the governor called this summer. Last week the Missouri Senate rammed two monumental […]
Ron Calzone

Appeals court gives Missouri AG pathway to Transgender Center patient records

2 days 21 hours ago
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office is allowed to access patient health information as part of its investigation into the Washington University Transgender Center, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. The Missouri Eastern District Court of Appeals decision, written by Judge Phillip Hess, reverses a ruling last year by a St. Louis judge that allowed the health […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Government shutdown looms Oct. 1 as Congress struggles with stopgap spending plan

2 days 22 hours ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republican leaders released a seven-week stopgap government funding bill Tuesday that’s intended to avoid a shutdown when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.  But GOP leaders opted not to negotiate the legislation with Democrats, who may be needed to approve the bill in the House and will be required to […]
Jennifer Shutt

Appeals court says Trump can’t remove Federal Reserve’s Lisa Cook

3 days ago
WASHINGTON — An appeals court late Monday rejected the Trump administration’s request to move ahead with firing Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook, as the president tries to pressure the independent board to lower interest rates.  The 2-1 decision will allow Cook to partake in Tuesday’s Federal Reserve meeting, where the board will vote on […]
Ariana Figueroa

Watchdog agency says Trump violated law for sixth time in withholding FEMA funds

3 days 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON — The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office released a report Monday concluding the Federal Emergency Management Agency violated the law “when it withheld or delayed the obligation of” funding Congress approved for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program and the Shelter and Services Program. The finding is the sixth time this year the GAO has […]
Jennifer Shutt