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Child marriage will remain legal in Missouri for at least another year after Republican House leaders said they don’t have enough time to pass it. Under current Missouri law, anyone under 16 is prohibited from getting married. But 16 and 17 year olds can get married with parental consent to anyone under 21.  Under legislation […]

The post Legislation enacting total ban on child marriage in Missouri dies in the House appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will start a new system Friday to hasten asylum claims for single adults, administration officials said Thursday. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Justice will launch a new expedited docket for migrants who arrive alone at ports of entry and turn themselves in to border authorities, […]

The post Biden administration seeks to speed some asylum cases with new immigration docket appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Dentists from throughout the country urged Congress to include dental coverage in Medicare during a hearing Thursday, saying that fewer than half of beneficiaries visit a dentist each year. The panel of four dentists told the U.S. Senate Help, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that other changes are needed as well to reduce […]

The post Medicare should include dental coverage, dentists tell U.S. Senate panel appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Senate did nothing but fight during two brief floor sessions Thursday, with Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin stepping in during each to cut off acrimonious exchanges, first with a recess and then with adjournment. As a result, the Senate considered no legislation on the penultimate day of this year’s session and seems unlikely to […]

The post Missouri Senate bitterness halts action as lawmakers prepare for final day of chaotic session appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers and advocates rallied outside the U.S. Capitol Thursday, urging House lawmakers to extend a fund for victims of U.S. nuclear testing that is set to expire in less than a month. But critics say the program is too expensive and should be winding down, and it’s not clear if the House will […]

The post Advocates press U.S. House to act soon on compensation for nuclear testing victims appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. House voted 387-26 Wednesday to clear a bill to reauthorize $105 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration for the next five years — and to finalize a hotly debated deal adding flights at busy Washington Reagan National Airport. Advocates for the bill, which won votes from every ideological corner of the often-divided House, touted its […]

The post Five-year FAA bill clears U.S. House, boosting flights into Washington, D.C. appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The two Republican candidates running for Missouri attorney general agreed this week that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, parroting claims spread by Donald Trump and his allies that have been widely debunked. Appearing at a candidate forum in Springfield on Tuesday, Attorney General Andrew Bailey and former federal prosecutor Will Scharf laid out their […]

The post Republican Missouri attorney general candidates proclaim 2020 election was stolen appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday rejected efforts to roll back guidance from the Treasury Department regarding how state and local governments can spend funding approved by Congress during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 46-49 vote on the Congressional Review Act resolution ended an attempt by several GOP senators to block the Biden administration from changing the […]

The post U.S. Senate GOP tries to block states from spending some of their COVID relief cash appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A 50-hour Democratic filibuster forced the Senate’s divided GOP majority to finally yield Wednesday evening, stalling a vote on a bill seeking to make it more difficult to amend Missouri’s constitution. Democrats have blocked all action in the Senate since Monday afternoon, demanding that the legislation be stripped of “ballot candy” that would bar non-citizens […]

The post 50-hour filibuster forces more negotiations on GOP-backed initiative petition changes appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Conservative members of Congress at a hearing on Wednesday raised questions about using federal dollars to pay for rebuilding a state tollway, as the head of the Federal Highway Administration reiterated that the Biden administration is seeking congressional approval to reimburse 100% of the costs of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Congress […]

The post Congressional panel debates who should foot the bill for rebuilding Baltimore bridge appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A set of medical provider taxes that fund a large portion of Missouri’s Medicaid program won quick approval Wednesday in the House, two weeks after it took 41 hours for the bill to pass in the state Senate. The controversies that stalled the bill in the Senate received scant attention during Wednesday’s debate, except for […]

The post House sends bill to governor renewing taxes critical to funding Missouri Medicaid appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — CNN announced on Wednesday morning that it will host a debate between President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump at the network’s Atlanta studios on June 27. CNN said there would be no audience present for the debate and moderators will be announced later. A second debate will be hosted by ABC […]

The post CNN sets first Biden-Trump presidential debate for June 27 in Atlanta appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Births continued a historic slide in all but two states last year, making it clear that a brief post-pandemic uptick in the nation’s birth numbers was all about planned pregnancies that had been delayed temporarily by COVID-19. Only Tennessee and North Dakota had small increases in births from 2022 to 2023, according to a Stateline […]

The post The number of births continues to fall, despite abortion bans appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Time is running out for legislation that would make it harder to sue pesticide manufacturers over claims their products cause cancer, with an unusual coalition of opponents working to ensure they’ve stalled the bill’s progress.  The bill, critics argue, shields large corporations at the expense of everyday Missourians who have developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma they attribute […]

The post Bill to shield pesticide makers from cancer lawsuits faces long odds in Missouri Senate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

School districts in Jackson County saw home property assessments leap by nearly a third — and add more heft to their tax bases. They set their property tax rates lower to reflect the beefier assessments — amid a furor from homeowners and politicians contending the numbers inflated the real value of properties in the county. […]

The post Schools say a lawsuit targeting Jackson County property assessments would be ‘catastrophic’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers are taking turns supporting former president and presumed 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump in his trial in Manhattan criminal court, where he is charged with covering up payments intended to silence porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Dressed alike in navy blue suits and red ties, North […]

The post GOP politicians rush to Manhattan to line up behind Trump as hush money trial continues appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A filibuster in the Missouri Senate set a new record Wednesday morning, as Democrats continued to demand “ballot candy” about non-citizen voting and foreign fundraising be removed from an initiative petition bill before it goes to voters. The previous modern record for longest filibuster was set earlier this year by the Senate Freedom Caucus, who […]

The post Democratic filibuster of initiative petition bill exceeds 41 hours, sets new record appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education anticipates asking lawmakers for more money later this year in order to meet the demands of a massive new education law and make up for reduced federal funding. “My gut is… because you have a lot of federal authority deleted… ​​you’ll see the mother of all supplemental […]

The post Missouri education department prepares for ‘mother of all supplemental budgets’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick were the most bipartisan members of Congress last year, according to a newly released analysis from the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. The least bipartisan House lawmaker was Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, while Alabama’s Katie […]

The post New list rates the most bipartisan members of Congress — and the least appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is doubling and in some cases tripling tariffs on Chinese-made products, like steel and electric vehicles, in a move aimed at easing economic pain in battleground states, though senior administration officials say it isn’t political. National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard told reporters on a call Monday ahead of the announcement […]

The post Tariffs to be sharply hiked by Biden administration on Chinese-made products appeared first on Missouri Independent.