TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly said Thursday that she and her husband of more than 40 years were granted a divorce. She decided to speak publicly about the amicable end of her marriage because of inquiries about the status of her relationship with retired physician Ted Daughety. Kelly, 75, said the pair remained on friendly […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending cut bill cleared Thursday has as its centerpiece $170 billion for the administration’s immigration crackdown, helping fulfill the president’s 2024 campaign promise of mass deportations of people without permanent legal status. The measure, passed by the House 218-214, would fulfill several of Trump’s key immigration priorities, […]
WASHINGTON — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported in March to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador, endured “severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation, inadequate nutrition, and psychological torture” while there, his attorneys wrote in a late Wednesday filing. The filing, an amended complaint to the District Court of Maryland, provides the first disturbing details of […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans cleared the “big, beautiful bill” for President Donald Trump’s signature Thursday, marking an end to the painstaking months-long negotiations that began just after voters gave the GOP unified control of Washington during last year’s elections. The final 218-214 vote on the expansive tax and spending cuts package marked a significant […]
Montana, Oregon and Pennsylvania have joined the ranks of states where older people outnumber children, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The ratio of people older than 65 to children younger than 18 grew in every state, according to a Stateline analysis of the estimates released June 26, which measure age changes in mid-2024 compared […]
Provisions in the new tax and spending bill passed by the U.S. Senate early Tuesday would go even further than the House bill in removing health care and other benefits from immigrants with legal status. The House version of the massive tax and spending bill penalized states providing health care for some immigrants with legal […]
The massive federal budget bill signed into law Friday by President Donald Trump would add new uncertainty to Missouri’s own budget, but the most costly portions would not hit the state for two years or more. As Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the budget bills passed by lawmakers this year, he vetoed $310 million in general […]
NASHVILLE — Kilmar Abrego Garcia will remain temporarily in jail at the request of his own attorneys, who cited conflicting positions taken by the government over whether he is at risk for immediate deportation. An order issued Monday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes keeps Abrego in the custody of the U.S. Marshals until a […]
In a 4-3 decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state’s 1849 law banning abortion had been “impliedly repealed” by the Legislature when it passed laws over the past half century “regulating in detail the ‘who, what, where, when, and how’” of abortion. The Court’s majority opinion, authored by Justice Rebecca Dallet and […]
Federal funding that provides access to contraceptives and reproductive health screenings has resumed in Missouri, the Missouri Family Health Council announced in a press release Tuesday. The council, a nonprofit which distributes funds to 52 family planning centers in Missouri and three in Oklahoma, has been operating without key federal funding for three months. It […]
This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republican efforts to pass the “big, beautiful bill” hit a roadblock Wednesday, when leaders left the chamber in a holding pattern for more than seven hours before calling a procedural vote that stalled amid opposition from hard-right members and others. The House must adopt the rule […]
WASHINGTON — A federal judge Wednesday ruled as unlawful an executive order by President Donald Trump that barred asylum by claiming an “invasion” at the southern border and the need to protect states. It’s the first major blow to the Trump administration in its attempt to end the ability for asylum seekers to make asylum […]
WASHINGTON — Protesters demonstrated against the “big beautiful bill” outside the U.S. Capitol Wednesday as House Republicans whipped votes to get the bill across the finish line and to President Donald Trump’s desk by a self-imposed July Fourth deadline. Shelley Feist stood on Independence Avenue near the entrance to the House of Representatives holding signs […]
After years of pressure over lost or untested sexual assault kits, a growing number of states are adopting systems to track the kits — giving survivors a way to follow their evidence through the justice process. But despite nearly $400 million in federal support since 2015, backlogs persist, and some states still lack basic oversight. […]
WASHINGTON — The final “big beautiful bill” approved by Senate Republicans Tuesday included some last-minute changes on hot-button issues such as safety net programs and clean energy tax credits. Senate Republicans had wrangled for weeks to deliver legislative text to satisfy concerns from lawmakers who objected to cutting Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for low-income […]
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has put on hold $6.8 billion in federal funds for K-12 schools, according to an Education Department notice obtained by States Newsroom. The agency informed states on Monday that it would be withholding funding for several programs, including before- and after-school programs, migrant education and English-language learning, among other initiatives. […]
The Missouri National Education Association is suing the state in an effort to block the appropriation of $51 million to MOScholars, the state’s K-12 scholarship program. In a lawsuit filed in Cole County Circuit Court Monday, MNEA argues that state funds cannot be directly given to MOScholars under the current statute. MNEA vice president Rebeka […]
A federal judge gave Justice Department lawyers until noon Tuesday to confirm, in writing, the administration’s plans for implementing an executive order on birthright citizenship after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted nationwide injunctions on the order Friday. Justice Department attorney Brad Rosenberg said at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on Monday that […]
Slow revenue growth continues to pinch state budgets across the country, leading governors to propose spending cuts, hiring freezes and some tax increases. In its spring survey of states, the National Association of State Budget Officers found that general fund spending will hold steady in fiscal 2026 as states expect limited revenue growth but increased […]
As federal funding for HIV prevention and treatment programs becomes less certain, the number of people newly diagnosed with the virus in the Kansas City region is trending up. Provisional data from the Kansas City Health Department show that an 11-county region in Missouri and Kansas saw 227 new cases in 2024, up from 206 […]
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