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Federal approval of Missouri postpartum extension could be at risk over abortion amendment

1 year 9 months ago

A push to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage in Missouri could face hurdles to federal approval after an abortion-related provision was added by Senate conservatives. The bill, which would extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to one year, seeks to lower Missouri’s maternal mortality rate. The state had the 12th highest maternal mortality in the […]

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Clara Bates

Missouri Republicans propose constitutional amendment to strengthen abortion ban

1 year 9 months ago

Anti-abortion senators proposed several ways on Wednesday to limit state funding for reproductive health care and enshrine anti-abortion language in the state constitution. SJR 8 proposes a constitutional amendment, which would require a statewide vote, that would prevent the Missouri government from funding abortion providers or their affiliates. SB 160 proposes a similar concept, though in statute, not […]

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Melissa Jacques

Debate over allowing Missouri campus groups to limit membership focuses on discrimination

1 year 9 months ago

A bill that would allow religious and other belief-based organizations to refuse membership to certain students raised concerns Wednesday evening that it could open the door to discrimination on college campuses. The legislation, sponsored by Republican Rep. Brad Hudson of Cape Fair, would prohibit public colleges from denying funding to “belief-based” groups based on their […]

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Annelise Hanshaw

Red-flag gun laws targeted by bill pushed Missouri Republican legislator

1 year 9 months ago

The Missouri Senate General Laws Committee heard testimony Wednesday about a bill that would create the Anti-Red Flag Gun Seizure Act. Red flag gun laws allow courts, when petitioned, to bar individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others from owning firearms. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, seeks to prevent federal […]

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Samantha Dietel

Sports wagering, video lottery compete for attention in Missouri Senate hearing

1 year 9 months ago

In Jefferson City, the fight over whether or how to expand gambling – sports wagering, video lottery games, or both – is a test of political power. But prevailing in the political contest isn’t important to April Kabrick, a co-owner of Boozers Bar & Grill in Liberty. She just wants to keep her restaurant in […]

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Rudi Keller

Missouri House advances workforce bill modeled on Ohio’s TechCred

1 year 9 months ago

An effort to reimburse Missouri employers for helping to expand the skills of their workers was inspired by the success of an Ohio program. Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted told the Missourian that TechCred, Ohio’s upskill credentials program, has funded over 57,000 awards since its inception in 2019. Husted is the director of the Ohio […]

The post Missouri House advances workforce bill modeled on Ohio’s TechCred appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Samantha Dietel

Black lawmakers ask Missouri House committee to ban discrimination based on natural hair

1 year 9 months ago

A Missouri House committee heard testimony Tuesday on three bills that would ban discrimination based on hair texture in some settings. Three Black state lawmakers — Democratic Reps. Raychel Proudie of Ferguson, LakeySha Bosley of St. Louis and Ashley Bland Manlove of Kansas City — presented versions of a national bill called the CROWN Act […]

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Annelise Hanshaw

It’s time for Missouri hospitals to find their voice and fight back

1 year 9 months ago

As one of the last abortion providers in Missouri, I was part of the fight to preserve reproductive freedom, a fight that was siloed, isolated and othered in the practice of medicine. Today, the same medical institutions that stayed silent on abortion are now the targets of attacks we, as abortion providers, long ago warned […]

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Colleen McNicholas

Missouri lawmakers may be in line for pay raise despite rejection of governor’s proposal

1 year 9 months ago

Lawmakers and statewide elected officials wouldn’t get a raise next month from a supplemental spending bill moving toward passage. But a provision of the state Constitution means legislators may see a pay boost on July 1. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill providing an 8.7% pay raise for all state employees, […]

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Rudi Keller

Capitol Perspectives: Dealing with legislative misbehavior

1 year 9 months ago

Members of the U.S. Congress should take a look at Missouri’s legislature on how to deal with New York U.S. Rep. George Santos who is facing a number of allegations. Santos campaigned falsely portraying himself as Jewish, that his mother was at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and other claims subsequently proven as false. […]

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Phill Brooks

Missouri Senate advances bill to prevent loss of public benefits over small pay bump

1 year 9 months ago

A bill that aims to soften the steep drop-off in public benefits that low-income Missourians face when their earnings increase won initial approval in the Missouri Senate Monday evening after pushback from conservative Republicans. The Senate still needs to vote one more time before the bill is sent to the House for consideration. Sponsored by […]

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Clara Bates

Missouri legislators seek to expand law providing restitution for wrongful convictions

1 year 9 months ago

Lamar Johnson was exonerated less than a week ago after serving three decades in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.  He walked out of prison with little more than the clothes on his back.  “Having been home just a few days, the difficulties of starting a new life after a wrongful conviction are fresh […]

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Jason Hancock

State ag officials push for on-time farm bill to fund slew of programs

1 year 9 months ago

WASHINGTON – State agriculture officials from across the country sought this month to remind a new crop of lawmakers in Congress of their states’ needs for a robust farm bill to address a host of food issues. Members of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture gathered in Washington for their annual winter meeting […]

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Adam Goldstein

Rural hospitals gird for unwinding of pandemic Medicaid coverage

1 year 9 months ago

Donald Lloyd, CEO and president of St. Claire HealthCare in Morehead, Kentucky, has spent more than a year dealing with higher costs for food and medical supplies for his regional hospital. Now he’s trying to prepare for another financial hit — the loss of Medicaid reimbursements for treating people in rural Appalachia. “We are all […]

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Casey Quinlan

State senator throws first punches of 2024 Missouri governor’s campaign

1 year 9 months ago

In a series of digital ads focused on Chinese farmland and taxes, state Sen. Bill Eigel has launched the opening salvo of a likely contentious 2024 Republican gubernatorial primary. Eigel, a two-term GOP legislator from St. Charles County, began running ads on Facebook this month criticizing two of his fellow Republicans — Lt. Gov. Mike […]

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Jason Hancock

America is the world’s most powerful democracy. Why is it impotent to stop mass gun violence?

1 year 9 months ago

Whether in a grocery store, a place of worship, a shopping mall, a community celebration, at work or in school, you are at risk for becoming a victim of senseless gun violence. Why is America the only industrialized nation in the world that is plagued by frequent mass shootings? Has our form of democracy allowed […]

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Janice Ellis

As Wash U faces renewed GOP criticism, Anthony Fauci to deliver commencement address

1 year 9 months ago

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert and a medical adviser to seven U.S. presidents, will address graduating students at Washington University School of Medicine in May, the school announced Thursday. But the speech by Fauci — who became a figure of scorn among some Republicans for his actions during the coronavirus pandemic […]

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Jason Hancock

U.S. Senate panel spars over elevated food assistance spending in upcoming farm bill

1 year 9 months ago

WASHINGTON – Members of the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee split along party lines on Thursday as they tussled over financial accountability in farm bill nutrition programs. The main point of contention was the Department of Agriculture’s 2021 changes to the Thrifty Food Plan, one of four food plans the USDA develops to […]

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Adam Goldstein

The foster care system is overburdened. Missouri leaders should invest in prevention

1 year 9 months ago

Missouri is confronting a nightmarish crisis in child welfare. According to the Missouri Children’s Division, there are over 13,300 children currently in foster care. The Missouri Child Abuse/Neglect Hotline Unit received over 54,000 reported incidents involving over 77,000 children throughout 2021. At a recent hearing of the state House subcommittee overseeing the budget for the […]

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DiAnne Mueller