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Federal budget megabill would shift billions in cost to Missouri taxpayers

1 month 3 weeks ago
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 […]
Rudi Keller

In a reversal, judge keeps Kilmar Abrego in jail over deportation concerns

1 month 3 weeks ago
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 […]
Anita Wadhwani

Wisconsin Supreme Court rules 1849 abortion ban is invalid

1 month 3 weeks ago
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decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state’s 1849 law banning abortion had been “impliedly repealed” by the Legislature when it passed laws over the past half century “regulating in detail the ‘who, what, where, when, and how’” of abortion.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 […]
Henry Redman

Title X funding returns to Missouri nonprofit after three-month freeze

1 month 3 weeks ago
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 […]
Annelise Hanshaw

US House GOP struggles to advance megabill against Freedom Caucus resistance

1 month 3 weeks ago
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 […]
Jennifer Shutt, Ashley Murray, Ariana Figueroa

Protesters outside the US House make a last stand against the GOP megabill

1 month 3 weeks ago
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 […]
Ashley Murray

More states are tracking rape kits. But key support for survivors may be slipping away

1 month 3 weeks ago
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. […]
Amanda Hernández

Republicans rewrote the US Senate megabill in its last moments

1 month 3 weeks ago
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 […]
Ashley Murray

Trump administration tells states it’s freezing $6.8 billion for K-12 school programs

1 month 3 weeks ago
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. […]
Shauneen Miranda

Missouri educators sue state over $51 million appropriation to private school vouchers

1 month 3 weeks ago
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 […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Judge gives administration until Tuesday to put birthright citizenship plans in writing

1 month 3 weeks ago
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 […]
Lauren Lifke

States face hard choices as budgets expected to tighten

1 month 3 weeks ago
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 […]
Kevin Hardy

HIV infections jumped 10% in Kansas City last year. Federal help seems uncertain

1 month 3 weeks ago
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 […]
Suzanne King

Supreme Court declines to hear Iowa pork producers’ case against California law

1 month 3 weeks ago
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear Iowa Pork Producers Association’s case against a California law that mandates the amount of space livestock animals, in particular hogs, have while being raised. The Supreme Court has ruled on a previous case in favor of upholding the California law, which opponents argue puts an unfair burden on […]
Cami Koons

If Trump wants more deportations, he’ll need to target the construction industry

1 month 3 weeks ago
As President Donald Trump sends mixed messages about immigration enforcement, ordering new raids on farms and hotels just days after saying he wouldn’t target those industries, he has hardly mentioned the industry that employs the most immigrant laborers: construction. Nevertheless, the Trump administration is going after construction workers without legal status to meet its mass […]
Tim Henderson

Senate votes 99-1 to remove AI moratorium from megabill

1 month 3 weeks ago
A moratorium on state-based artificial intelligence laws was struck from the “Big Beautiful Bill” Monday night in a 99-1 vote in the U.S. Senate, after getting less and less popular with state and federal lawmakers, state officials and advocacy groups since it was introduced in May. The moratorium had evolved in the seven weeks since […]
Paige Gross

US Senate narrowly passes GOP megabill after overnight session, sending it to House

1 month 3 weeks ago
This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans approved their signature tax break and spending cuts package Tuesday with a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President JD Vance, following days of tense, closed-door negotiations that went until the few last minutes of a marathon amendment voting session. The 51-50 mostly party-line vote sends […]
Jennifer Shutt, Ashley Murray, Shauneen Miranda, Ariana Figueroa

Missouri selects NY-based consulting firm to study marijuana market

1 month 3 weeks ago
New York-based Cannabis Public Policy Consulting LLC was awarded a contract this month to study Missouri’s marijuana market for the next year. The group’s $238,700 contract to conduct an economic-impact study will help the state determine “whether or when the state will be required to issue additional cannabis facility licenses and, if so, how many, […]
Rebecca Rivas