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Gov. Mike Parson’s plan to study improvements on Interstate 44 using interest earned on funds set aside for rebuilding Interstate 70 faced bipartisan questioning Wednesday, with House budget writers asking why the money isn’t being deposited in general revenue. Democratic state Rep. Deb Lavender of Manchester, and Republican Rep.  Dirk Deaton of Noel grilled State […]

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As climate change and groundwater pumping leave arid western states hurting for water, Missouri lawmakers are considering legislation to keep the state’s water from being shipped outside its borders.  “You may hear about states like California and Kansas in the news having water shortages,” said state Sen. Jason Bean, a Republican from Holcomb. “We don’t […]

The post Lawmakers hope to block Missouri water from being exported to other states appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee castigated executives at leading social media companies Wednesday, calling for more to be done to shield children from sexual exploitation, drug dealing, self-harm encouragement and other damaging content. In one tense exchange, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley demanded to know if Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, had […]

The post ‘A product that’s killing people’: Lawmakers chastise social media giants for harm to kids appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve a $78 billion tax package that would expand the child tax credit and reinstate some tax incentives for businesses. The 357-70 vote sends the bill, dubbed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, to the U.S. Senate, where lawmakers are expected to […]

The post Child tax credit expanded, business tax breaks get new life in bill passed by U.S. House appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri lawmakers are considering a handful of bills in both the House and Senate that would change the way the state measures school performance and accreditation. The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee debated two bills Wednesday seeking to scrap systems developed by the state’s education department to assess schools. A Senate committee held a […]

The post Missouri lawmakers seek to reenvision school accountability and accreditation appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Gabriel Henao fled Colombia to escape a guerrilla group who, he said, twice threatened to kill him. After some time in Mexico, he arrived in Colorado in July 2022, settling in Fort Collins. His severe stomach pain started when he was in Mexico, he said. It was debilitating and left him bedridden for days at […]

The post More states offer health care coverage for certain immigrants, noncitizens appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security early Wednesday voted 18-15 along party lines to send articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the House floor. Republicans argue the charges are legitimate. Members of the full House could vote as soon as next week to impeach Mayorkas, who is […]

The post U.S. House committee advances impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas to floor appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating how Missouri Democratic Rep. Cori Bush spends campaign funds, according to a statement the congresswoman released Tuesday. “Since before I was sworn into office, I have endured relentless threats to my physical safety and life,” Bush said. “As a rank-and-file member of Congress I am not […]

The post Missouri Rep. Cori Bush denies using tax dollars for personal security as DOJ investigates appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri Republican Senate leaders on Tuesday won confirmation for all of Gov. Mike Parson’s pending appointees to state office as members of the Freedom Caucus backed down from a demand that the upper chamber approve initiative petition changes as the price for confirmation. For almost 16 hours, members of the caucus and their allies held […]

The post Deal on initiative changes, Parson appointees ends overnight Missouri Senate filibuster appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A bill that would allow students to enroll in neighboring school districts won initial approval in the Missouri House for the fourth year in a row Tuesday on an 83-69 vote.  It is the first bill to be debated by the full House this legislative session. It must be approved one more time by the […]

The post Open enrollment legislation wins initial approval in Missouri House appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The United States needs an estimated 7 million more homes to house everyone who needs shelter. But to build all those homes, experts say, America would need many more construction workers. “The biggest challenge that the construction industry is facing, to put it tongue in cheek, is that people don’t want their babies to grow up to […]

The post The US needs homes. But first, it needs the workers to build them appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republican lawmakers are once again pushing legislation that would require Missouri to conduct a clinical study on using psilocybin, more commonly referred to  as “magic mushrooms,” to treat depression, substance use or as part end-of-life care.  Last year, the House overwhelmingly approved the measure. But it never made it to a final House vote. Hearings […]

The post Debate over psychedelic therapy returns to Missouri General Assembly appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A bipartisan bill debated in a state Senate committee Monday would ban child marriage in Missouri.  Under current law, 16 and 17-year-olds are allowed to get married with parental consent. Marriage between a minor and anyone 21 or older is prohibited. The legislation discussed Monday afternoon would prohibit issuing marriage licenses to anyone under the […]

The post Missouri lawmakers seek to ban child marriage without exception appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee is gearing up for only the second impeachment in U.S. history of a Cabinet member. The Republican-led committee on Tuesday will mark up articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, for what Democrats say is no more than a difference in immigration policy […]

The post U.S. House Republicans set to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appeared first on Missouri Independent.

MOSCOW, Kansas — Brownie Wilson pulls off a remote dirt road right through a steep ditch and onto a farmer’s field. He hops out of his white Silverado pickup, mud covering nearly all of it except the Kansas Geological Survey logo stuck on the side with electrical tape. Dry cornstalks crunch under his work boots […]

The post Agriculture built these High Plains towns. Now, it might run them dry appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s practice of taking millions of dollars in Social Security benefits owed to foster kids to defray the cost of providing care could come to an end under legislation debated last week in a House committee.  The state took at least $6.1 million in foster kids’ benefits last year — generally Social Security benefits for […]

The post Legislation aims to stop Missouri from seizing federal benefits owed to foster kids appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In early 2020, Peapod Learning Center in Springfield had a waiting list years out.  The nature and farm preschool earned state recognition as it continued to expand after opening more than a decade earlier. “It was off the charts wonderful,” said owner and director Carly Walton.  Then the pandemic hit. By June 2020, the farm […]

The post Missouri child care crisis a top priority for governor, bipartisan group of lawmakers appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The greatest choice voters will have to make during the 2024 presidential election is whether to stand for truth or go along with the lies. But how can voters discern and distinguish truth from lies, facts from fiction? It seems truth and facts have become expendable commodities in the public square. We must wonder whether […]

The post The 2024 elections will be a choice between truth and lies appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Less than a day after a draft letter from state Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden’s home Republican county committee demanding his resignation began circulating on social media, the party’s chairman tried to retract it. The letter, which also called for Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin of Shelbina to resign, was never intended to be […]

The post Boone County GOP committee retracts demand for resignation of Missouri Senate leaders appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Although it’s spotty and inconsistent in many places, wastewater testing is pointing to a new wave of COVID-19 infections, with as many as one-third of Americans expected to contract the disease by late February. With pandemic fatigue also in full force, and deaths and hospitalizations well down from peaks in 2021 because of high vaccination […]

The post Wastewater tests show COVID infections surging, but pandemic fatigue limits precautions appeared first on Missouri Independent.