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Politicians are public servants. That’s it. That is their job description. And every election cycle is a wonderful opportunity for voters to remind elected officials who really has power and who they really work for. It’s our opportunity to hold them accountable. Our government “of the people, by the people, for the people” — in […]

The post My best advice to voters in 2024: Focus on policy and the stakes, not the political circus appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Spending on administrative expenses at U.S. public universities has outpaced spending on academic roles in recent years, leading some students and alumni to question how wisely schools are allocating student tuition money and scarce state dollars. A conservative-leaning group that tracks higher education dollars found that administrative spending — which it defines as including such things […]

The post Critics say public universities are spending too much outside the classroom appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Young people may be digital natives, but many of them aren’t equipped to deal with the increasing onslaught of disinformation and deepfakes appearing in their social media feeds. A growing number of states think they have an antidote: media literacy education. The goal of media literacy, sometimes called digital citizenship or information literacy, is to […]

The post Kids are flooded with social media and news. Some states want to help them question it appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri lawmakers are pushing legislation this year requiring pornographic websites and online dating services to verify the ages of all users. Proponents say the goal is to prevent children from accessing inappropriate content online.  However, civil liberties advocates are raising red flags, arguing that the purveyors of adult entertainment content want to prevent minors from […]

The post Missouri legislature weighs age-verification mandates for adult websites appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The next few weeks of legislative action are primed for debate over opening up access for Missouri students to leave their neighborhood schools — though escalating dysfunction in the Senate may change those plans. Proposals to allow open enrollment between school districts and expand tax-credit scholarships for private schools are among the first bills to […]

The post Missouri lawmakers poised for debate over open enrollment, private school scholarships appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In 2022, the United States imported 3.4 billion pounds of boxed beef and 1.6 million live cattle. Through August 2023 the U.S. imported 20% more beef than we exported. Meatpackers and traders can take imported beef and repackage it with a label that reads “Product of the United States.” Now do I have your attention? It […]

The post Hyper concentration in food markets is harmful to consumers and producers alike appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The tax policymakers of the GOP-led U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means voted 40-3 to send the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, or H.R. 7024, to the House for a full floor vote. The Biden administration is “encouraged” and “pleased” with the committee’s vote, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday. The framework, […]

The post Bipartisan deal to expand child tax credit, revive business tax breaks advances in Congress appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Every year — on New Year’s Eve, July 4, when a sports team wins a championship — police and politicians practically beg people not to fire their guns into the air in celebration. In Kansas City, reports of shots fired go up when the NFL playoffs roll around. Meanwhile, a proposal to slightly strengthen the […]

The post After Chiefs win, Kansas Citians fire guns in the air. A lawmaker wants the team to speak out appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators pledged Thursday to press for more funding to research long COVID-19 during a hearing that highlighted patients suffering from the diagnosis as well as experts studying its impacts. “Long COVID stripped away my daughter’s life as she knew it,” said Nicole Heim, the mom of a long COVID patient in Winchester, […]

The post Patients struck by long COVID plead with U.S. Senate panel for more research funding appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Congress will have until early March to finish work it was supposed to complete last fall — and will avert a partial government shutdown — under a bill both chambers approved with broad bipartisan support Thursday. The 77-18 vote in the Senate and 314-108 vote in the House sent the bill to President Joe Biden, […]

The post Congress speeds through short-term government funding bill before Friday shutdown deadline appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A campaign to legalize abortion in Missouri disclosed raising more than $1.1 million in donations on the first day it launched. The campaign, a coalition organized under a political action committee called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, announced Thursday it was launching a campaign to move forward with a ballot initiative that would legalize abortion up […]

The post Missouri abortion ballot effort raises more than $1 million in first day of launch appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The bitter feud between a vocal minority of Senate Republicans and the majority of the GOP caucus erupted Thursday into a fit of name-calling and allegations that certain lawmakers hoped to disrupt the regular process of legislation simply to boost their political fortunes. For almost 11 hours, the intra-party fight kept lawmakers in the Missouri […]

The post Tempers flare in Missouri Senate during GOP fight over initiative petition changes appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The United States should not expand nuclear energy use, at least until the federal government can make up for the harms caused by previous nuclear projects, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri said at a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Bush cited the health problems nuclear waste has caused to many in her […]

The post Health risks from nuclear contamination in St. Louis denounced at congressional hearing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

  WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans Thursday held a second hearing on the impeachment of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, even as Mayorkas works to reach a deal on changes in immigration law with a group of senators. Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee argued that Mayorkas has not upheld his oath of office […]

The post U.S. House Republicans move ahead with drive to impeach Mayorkas over immigration policy appeared first on Missouri Independent.

If Missouri employees ask for workers’ compensation after an on-the-job injury, employers can require them to take a drug test for marijuana.  If they test positive — even if they hadn’t consumed marijuana for days — their compensation and death benefit may be reduced by 50%.  That didn’t change when Missouri legalized recreational marijuana because […]

The post Missouri legislators push back on adding marijuana to workers’ compensation law appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s White House gathering with lawmakers to find a compromise on foreign aid and immigration was “productive,” U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday, but a deal has still not been reached. Biden hosted congressional leaders and other lawmakers to discuss the administration’s stalled $106 billion national security supplemental request, which includes […]

The post No deal on Ukraine, Israel aid after White House meeting with top congressional leaders appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Passage of a multi-billion-dollar supplemental package hinges on curbing an executive authority used to grant immigration protection, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said during a Wednesday press conference. “If we don’t fix parole, there will be no deal,” Graham said alongside Senate Republican Whip John Thune of South Dakota. Graham said parole is […]

The post With GOP pushing hard on immigration, parole emerges as a make-or-break issue in Congress appeared first on Missouri Independent.

With state law already banning transgender youth from accessing puberty blockers and hormones, a Missouri House committee met late into the evening Wednesday to debate adding more restrictions. Two statehouse hearing rooms overflowed with witnesses in favor and against bills in the House Emerging Issues Committee that would determine whether it should be compulsory for […]

The post Missouri lawmakers debate permanent ban on transgender care for minors appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After months of court battles and internal squabbles, a coalition of Missouri abortion-rights organizations plan to officially launch an effort Thursday to put a constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot to legalize abortion up until the point of fetal viability.  Despite reports of discord within the coalition, the campaign has the support of Abortion Action […]

The post Abortion-rights coalition launches campaign to put amendment on Missouri ballot appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A state Senate hearing on a medical provider tax devolved Wednesday into a fight over the political tactics of Missouri Right to Life, with a Democrat dropping an obscenity and Republicans slamming the group for injecting its anti-abortion politics into unrelated issues. Only one member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Republican Sen. Denny Hoskins of […]

The post Missouri Senate GOP factions on display during debate over defunding Planned Parenthood appeared first on Missouri Independent.