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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is processing claims at the fastest rate in its history, hoping to avoid a significant backlog as hundreds of thousands of veterans apply for health care and benefits under the landmark toxic exposure law Congress passed earlier this year. The day after President Joe Biden signed the […]

The post Thousands of veterans deluge VA with claims for toxic exposure benefits, health care appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Among the items on Congress’ lengthy to-do list by the end of the year is U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s proposal to speed up the federal government’s permitting process that certifies energy projects do not harm the environment. But the bill, which was a condition of the centrist West Virginia Democrat’s support for his party’s larger […]

The post Little appetite for Manchin permitting bill in congressional lame-duck session appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For the first time in its history, the only real limit on what Missouri can buy on a cash-and-carry basis is the imagination of the people spending the money. The state treasury is bulging with more than $6 billion in surplus cash, the result of 28 months of double-digit revenue growth and federal payments tied […]

The post Missouri state budget is bulging with $6 billion in surplus cash appeared first on Missouri Independent.

There are any number of takeaways one can glean from the recent midterm elections. But one that should be getting more attention is that the public is sick and tired of bitter bickering and obsession with false issues at the expense of the real ones that need fixing. As Congress and state legislatures around the […]

The post Dear elected officials: Stop the infighting and do your jobs appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Sunday night, I sat on the couch, a cocktail in hand, watching Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes trot onto the field. Trailing the Los Angeles Chargers by four, Kansas City needed to drive 75 yards in the final 1:46 to score a touchdown. A field goal would not be enough. And yet, there I reclined on […]

The post For Kansas City area fans, sports wins feel inevitable. Let’s appreciate them appeared first on Missouri Independent.

If you could prevent millions of children from falling back into poverty, would you? Most of us, I imagine, would answer “yes” without hesitation. But not Congress. For nearly a year, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have dithered as the policy directly responsible for a dramatic decline in poverty last year lapsed. It’s time for Congress […]

The post Congress knows how to slash child poverty. It just needs to do it appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A top staff member in the governor’s office will be Missouri’s next attorney general. Andrew Bailey, 41, who has served as general counsel for Gov. Mike Parson for the last year, will replace Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who was elected to the U.S. Senate earlier this month. Bailey will complete Schmitt’s term, which ends in […]

The post Gov. Mike Parson picks staffer to replace Eric Schmitt as Missouri attorney general appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In May, Missouri residents applying for food assistance by phone had to wait on hold an average of 56 minutes to reach the required interview process, a delay a federal judge deemed “unacceptably long.” Yet over the summer, wait times continued to increase each month, according to data obtained this week by The Independent. Callers […]

The post Missourians seeking food assistance saw call center wait times increase over the summer appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Education announced on Tuesday it is extending the pandemic-era pause on federal student loan repayments until June 30 while legal challenges to the administration’s student debt relief program are fought over in the courts. The agency said if the student debt relief program has not been put in place by […]

The post Student loan repayment pause extended by White House amid legal battles over relief plan appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri NAACP has a travel advisory in the state highlighting that if you are a person of color in Missouri, you have got to be careful. You will not have the complete protection of the law in the courts nor on the streets. The execution of Kevin Johnson, planned for Nov. 29, is but […]

The post Missouri’s culture of death must stop. Granting Kevin Johnson mercy is a good first step appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon.  On Nov. 8, Missourians voted “yes” on Amendment 3, which legalized recreational use of marijuana, meaning you’ll now be able to buy weed, like marijuana flower or edibles, in the coming months. Starting Dec. 8, the state will begin transitioning its medical marijuana licenses to recreational […]

The post What to know about buying recreational marijuana in Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

An aging electric grid, fossil fuel power plant retirements and a massive renewable electricity buildout are all contributing to a boom in transmission and distribution wire projects by electric utilities across the country. In 2020, investor-owned electric utilities spent $25 billion on transmission, up from $23.7 billion in 2019, figures that the Edison Electric Institute, which […]

The post As utilities spend billions on transmission, support builds for independent monitoring appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Branson-based Christian summer camp was sued last week by a former camper who alleges it concealed knowledge of a staffer's sexual misconduct to convince the camper's family to sign a settlement and non-disclosure agreement.

The post Former camper suing Missouri-based Kanakuk claiming ‘fraudulent’ abuse settlement appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Attorneys for a St. Louis man sentenced to die for a murder he committed when he was 19 asked the Missouri Supreme Court Monday to delay his execution to allow for a hearing on alleged constitutional violations in his original trial. Kevin Johnson was convicted in 2007 of killing a police officer. He is scheduled […]

The post Kevin Johnson’s attorneys, special prosecutor ask Missouri Supreme Court to stay execution appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by Kaiser Health News.  As COVID-19 raged, roughly 4,000 highly skilled epidemiologists, communication specialists, and public health nurses were hired by a nonprofit tied to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to plug the holes at battered public health departments on the front lines. But over the past few […]

The post Thousands of experts hired to aid public health departments are losing their jobs appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by Investigate Midwest.  The Environmental Protection Agency is charged with protecting important waterways from pollution, but manure from concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, continues to harm waterways — and only one-third of the largest facilities have a federal permit. EPA permits require CAFO operators to tell the agency how […]

The post Large CAFOs are known polluters. Here’s why EPA permits only cover one-third appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When Kate Starbird got word that Missouri’s attorney general wanted her to turn over three years of her emails, she didn’t know what to think.  A Seattle-based professor at the University of Washington, Starbird co-founded the UW Center for an Informed Public, which researches misinformation online. Why would an elected official 2,000 miles away be […]

The post Missouri AG aligns with St. Louis conspiracy theorist in social media lawsuit appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Early last month, Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation to lower the state’s income tax rate at an annual cost of more than $500 million — shorting Missouri taxpayers out of a greater return for their money. Tax dollars that could have staffed up school districts facing teacher and staff shortages, improved facilities and equipment for […]

The post Missouri deserves a creative program for supporting businesses, reducing unemployment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Local governments in Ohio and Illinois are using American Rescue Plan Act money to relieve residents struggling with medical debt by partnering with an organization that buys debt and wipes the slate clean for debtors.  It’s a strategy advocates say could be duplicated across the country to help erase a multibillion-dollar problem. On Nov. 9, […]

The post Two communities find a cure for medical debt: Pandemic stimulus funds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Roughly 345,000 Missouri children under age 17 are now excluded from receiving the full $2,000 child tax credit in Missouri, according to the report. 

The post Nearly 350,000 Missouri children are too poor to receive full child tax credit appeared first on Missouri Independent.