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WASHINGTON — Many U.S. taxpayers in a dozen states for the first time can electronically file their federal returns directly to the Internal Revenue Service for free — but critics insist the new federal benefit is not needed and will even harm both users and states. More than 50,000 taxpayers in Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, […]

The post The IRS is testing a free method to directly file taxes. But not everyone is thrilled appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Attempts to create tax credits for child care related causes continue to be at a roadblock because of challenges from Freedom Caucus members in the Missouri Senate. Legislation ponsored by Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Kansas City Democrat, would create several provisions aiming to offer tax credits related to childcare services. The bill would offer the […]

The post Child care tax credit bills face continued Freedom Caucus opposition in Missouri Senate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Royals and the Chiefs had everything. Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce — fresh off of a Super Bowl victory — endorsed a “yes” vote in ads airing on TV and on YouTube. Endorsements rolled in from the city’s top political players: Mayor Quinton Lucas (belatedly), U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and nearly every union in […]

The post What the KC stadium tax defeat says about teams, their subsidies and Jackson County voters appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — An anti-obscenity law enacted in 1873 that hasn’t been enforced in decades shot to the forefront of the nation’s abortion debate in the past week thanks to two U.S. Supreme Court justices, amid expectations a future Republican president would use the law to order a nationwide ban on medication abortion. The Comstock Act, […]

The post An 1873 law banned the mailing of boxing photos. Could it block abortion pills, too? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Even with strong job growth, infrastructure development, including boosts to ag regions, and other financial metrics trending positively, President Joe Biden is struggling to break through on the economy with voters — a fact former presidents Obama and Clinton delved into last week at a record-breaking New York City fundraiser for the president’s reelection. Instead of […]

The post Blue Missouri leader tells rural Iowa Democrats: Don’t talk about Biden appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri has plenty of money left in reserve as the state Senate prepares to work on the almost $51 billion budget passed Thursday in the House, but one looming issue could disrupt final passage and put the surplus in danger of disappearing. Lawmakers must renew a set of medical provider taxes, known as the federal […]

The post Senate leader warns of ‘tough timeframe’ to complete work on Missouri state budget appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After years of legal appeals and delays, some oil companies are set to stand trial in lawsuits brought by state and local governments over the damages caused by climate change. Meanwhile, dozens more governments large and small have brought new claims against the fossil fuel industry as those initial cases, filed up to a half-dozen […]

The post After a long slog, climate change lawsuits will finally put Big Oil on trial appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In recent years, millions of people across the United States have moved from Democratic cities to Republican suburbs, complicating the politics of swing states in a pivotal election year, according to a Stateline analysis. Republican suburban counties in four swing states — Georgia in the South and Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the Midwest — […]

The post Swing states see newcomers as Americans move from blue to red counties appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A push by workers in a St. Louis marijuana facility to form a union could have national ramifications on labor law, with the company hoping to block their effort by asking the federal government to intervene.  At issue is a group of “post-harvest workers” at BeLeaf Medical’s Sinse cultivation facility in St. Louis. They have […]

The post Union drive at St. Louis cannabis company could have major impact on national labor law appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Three Missouri Republicans – including one running for statewide office – are being sued for defamation over social media posts incorrectly identifying a Kansas man as an undocumented immigrant and the shooter at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory celebration. On Tuesday, Denton Loudermill of Olathe, Kansas, filed federal lawsuits against state Sens. Rick […]

The post Three Missouri state senators sued for defamation over posts about Chiefs parade shooting appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A trio of checks totaling nearly $3 million rolled into a political action committee supporting Republican Will Scharf over the last week, boosting his campaign to unseat Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in the August GOP primary.  On Wednesday, Club for Growth Action Missouri — which is supporting Scharf — reported a $1.4 million donation from […]

The post Will Scharf gets $2.9 million boost to his campaign for Missouri attorney general appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Two bills seeking to make it more difficult to amend the state constitution through the initiative petition process advanced through the Missouri House this week.  On Wednesday, legislation sponsored by Republican state Rep. John Black of Marshfield was approved on a 106-49 vote. The only Republican to vote against the measure was House Majority Leader […]

The post Bills making it harder to amend state constitution proceed in Missouri House appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Political consultants and Beltway pollsters are setting up camp in purple states to join a towering battle for control of a narrowly split U.S. Senate, but come November, only the voters will make that choice. The road to the majority in the upper chamber of Congress mostly runs through Arizona, Montana and Ohio, […]

The post Democrats’ quest to hang on to U.S. Senate majority centers on Arizona, Montana and Ohio appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Facing increased threats to election workers and superheated political rhetoric from former President Donald Trump and his supporters, more states are considering firearm bans at polling places and ballot drop boxes ahead of November’s presidential election. This month, New Mexico became the latest state to restrict guns where people vote or hand in ballots, joining […]

The post Fearing political violence, more states ban firearms at polling places appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri House spent nine hours Tuesday debating the $50.7 billion state budget, with Republicans voting down most ideas from Democrats to add to the spending plan, even amendments that would restore cuts to Gov. Mike Parson’s proposals. There were fights over higher education funding, child care subsidies and where Missouri should deploy the National […]

The post House GOP advances $50 billion Missouri budget, rejecting dozens of Democrat amendments appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When a Republican colleague threatened to read aloud from a 2-foot stack of books — including a biblical guide to leadership and a tome by anti-tax activist Grover Norquist — to protest inaction on his bills last week, Missouri state Sen. Rick Brattin quickly took up the cause. Seizing on a chance to hijack the planned schedule, […]

The post Freedom Caucuses push for conservative state laws, but getting attention is their big success appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Helpless and without the ability to control her head, they handed her to me, and I knew my life was changed. We left the hospital two days later with our newest family member and time on our side thanks to the paid new child leave our employers gave us. In January, I returned to work […]

The post Employers can set families up for success by providing paid new child leave appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Forty-five million people live in the area managed by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the organization that runs a massive portion of the North American electric grid running from Manitoba, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico. Inside that footprint are all or parts of 15 states, 75,000 miles of transmission lines and nearly 3,000 electric generating […]

The post In the central U.S., an electric grid bottleneck persists appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Caleb Rowden only has a few more months left as a Missouri lawmaker, and he wants to leave a legacy in his hometown of Columbia.  The Senate president pro tem will leave office this year because of term limits, and before he’s done he wants to change state law to allow charter schools in the […]

The post Caleb Rowden pushes for charter schools in his county over objections from local districts appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Proposed legislation to regulate intoxicating hemp products could potentially ban the majority of the Delta-8 drinks and edibles on the market in Missouri today, the state’s top marijuana regulator told an industry meeting late last week in St. Louis.  “This is really an unanswered question,” said Amy Moore, director of the Missouri Division of Cannabis […]

The post Proposed legislation could ban the majority of Delta-8 drinks and edibles in Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.