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Missouri’s marijuana businesses would have fewer obstacles when it comes to accessing banking, under legislation approved Thursday. Few banks nationwide serve cannabis businesses and their owners — or even their auxiliary partners  — because most want nothing to do with a business that sells a product the federal government still considers illegal. That’s true even […]

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The Missouri Senate held itself together longer than most had expected.  But on Friday, hours before the constitutionally mandated adjournment, it went off the rails.  Sen. Bill Eigel, a Weldon Spring Republican running for governor next year, attempted a procedural move to force a vote on personal property tax cut legislation.  Instead, the chamber voted […]

The post Missouri Senate dysfunction leads to gridlock on final day of 2023 legislative session appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A no-interest loan to a southeast Missouri aluminum company that was included in the state’s budget could run afoul of a Civil War-era restriction on using state funds or credit to aid a private enterprise. The loan, $8.5 million for 10 years, is among about 275 earmarked spending items sprinkled throughout the $50.7 billion state […]

The post Loan to aluminum smelter in Missouri Bootheel raises constitutional question appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Allison Kite, a data reporter covering agriculture and the environment for The Missouri Independent and Kansas Reflector, has been selected to receive the 2023 William E. James Outstanding Young Journalist Award from the Missouri Press Association. The award recognizes reporters who have demonstrated excellence in the field of journalism and maintained the quality, ethics and […]

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WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Thursday pushed through a border security package that mirrors Trump-era immigration policies, aiming criticism at the Biden administration for ending a pandemic-era public health measure used to expel millions of migrants from the country. The House passed the measure in a 219-213 vote. Only two Republicans voted in opposition, Reps. […]

The post U.S. House passes bill to reinstate Trump-era immigration policies appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The public health emergency declaration ended on Thursday, and with it some of the policies that helped the U.S. recover from the many of the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Although COVID-19 is still a public health threat, the national economic crisis it created has subsided with the U.S. economy back to its pre-pandemic growth rate. Economists say […]

The post Fast federal response to pandemic key to US economic recovery, economists say appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Power Plan — intended to cut carbon emissions from power plants — was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Trump administration’s much-criticized replacement, the Affordable Clean Energy rule, derided as a “tortured series of misreadings” of the U.S. Clean Air Act, was also tossed by a federal court. But the Biden […]

The post EPA again proposes power plant carbon rules appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Republican lawmaker running for governor next year held up all action in the Missouri Senate Thursday night, arguing one of his top legislative priorities was being held hostage in negotiations over legalizing sports wagering.  Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, spent much of the evening reading aloud from a biography of Ronald Reagan and from […]

The post Sports wagering impasse upends the Missouri Senate a day before adjournment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Everyone working in Missouri’s cannabis industry would be required to submit to a fingerprint background check under legislation approved Thursday. Under the constitutional amendment that voters passed in November to legalize recreational marijuana, only the owners of cannabis companies are required to submit their fingerprints to the Missouri Highway Patrol for a criminal background check. […]

The post Missouri legislators vote to require fingerprint background checks for cannabis employees appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — After more than three years and 1.1 million deaths, the United States on Thursday will end the public health emergency for COVID-19 — and Congress is attempting to better prepare for a possible resurgence of that virus or another. The expiration of the designation, originally put in place in January 2020, means alterations to how […]

The post As the COVID public health emergency ends, prepping for a new pandemic is next appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Dyvia Huitron started having sex when she was 16. Worried about getting pregnant, she talked to her parents about getting on hormonal birth control. Instead, they grounded her. The now-19-year-old had expected pushback – she was living in a religious community in conservative McAllen, Texas. But she underestimated how many years it would eventually take […]

The post Health experts urge FDA to approve over-the-counter birth control in unanimous vote appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Four years ago, a viral video showed two Kansas City police officers slamming a Black transgender woman, Brianna BB Hill, onto the sidewalk, kneeling on her in the face, torso and ribs and forcing her cuffed hands above her head. In the time since, the officers pleaded guilty to third-degree assault. And Hill was shot […]

The post Trans women of color and the Kansas City Police Department’s rocky, violent history appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans have requested more than $10 billion in earmarks to be included in next year’s appropriations bills, despite demanding massive spending cuts as a contingent for raising the nation’s debt ceiling. All but a handful of House Republicans barely pushed through a bill that would temporarily raise the U.S. borrowing limit, but […]

The post U.S. House GOP wants spending cuts — and also $10B in home-state earmarks appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Senate remained bogged down in GOP infighting Wednesday night, with conservatives for the third day in a row blocking or slowing legislative action while time ticked down towards Friday adjournment.  Leading the effort was Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, who spent much of Wednesday blocking an uncontroversial hemp bill by reading an anti-vaccine […]

The post Gridlock plagues Missouri Senate once again with just days to go before adjournment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer and fellow House Republicans on Wednesday used newly unearthed bank records to claim that President Joe Biden’s family members sought to improperly benefit from his vice presidency — though the preliminary findings leave several major questions unanswered. No direct ties to Biden while he served as […]

The post New claims aired by GOP of Biden family influence-peddling, but questions remain appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A pandemic-era measure that allowed for the swift expulsion of millions of migrants at the Southwest border is set to end Thursday, and the Biden administration and state officials across the U.S. are bracing for a potential increase in asylum seekers. At the same time, House Republicans this week are pushing through a […]

The post Title 42 nears an end, marking a shift in U.S. immigration policy at the border appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri House sent legislation to the governor’s desk Wednesday morning barring transgender youth from beginning gender-affirming care. The bill passed 108-50. Only three Republicans joined every Democrat in opposition: House Majority Leader Jon Patterson, a doctor, Rep. Chris Sander, who is gay, and Rep. Gary Bonacker. Democratic Rep. Peter Merideth of St. Louis asked […]

The post Missouri House sends bill banning transgender health care for minors to governor appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and top congressional leaders were unable to reach a bipartisan debt limit agreement during a closed-door meeting Tuesday, leaving the dispute unresolved as the country moves closer to a default predicted as soon as early June. White House staff and aides to the four congressional leaders, however, will meet throughout […]

The post Biden and congressional leaders fail to reach a debt limit deal, but will meet again Friday appeared first on Missouri Independent.

BRIDGETON — Radioactive waste has migrated outside the boundaries of the West Lake landfill and contaminated soil and water on the edge of the St. Louis County site, federal environmental officials said Tuesday night.  And the contaminated area onsite is far larger than previously thought. Yet still, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency couldn’t assure the […]

The post EPA: Radioactive contamination at West Lake landfill is more widespread appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A last-ditch effort to legalize sports wagering passed the Missouri House on Tuesday but immediately ran against opposition from the senator whose bill was modified to include it. While the House has had no trouble passing sports wagering, identified as a priority by leaders of both parties as the legislative session began, the Senate has […]

The post Missouri House tries again to prod Senate into passing sports wagering bill appeared first on Missouri Independent.