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The Missouri Department of Revenue is investigating an income tax scheme the agency says tried to fool the state into issuing $118 million in tax refunds. The plot, first revealed publicly as a footnote in the  Feb. 7 daily revenue report, has been turned over to the department’s Criminal Tax Investigation Bureau, spokeswoman Anne Marie […]

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Missouri Employers Mutual, the state’s largest workers compensation insurer, is seeking to be removed from state control under legislation heard Wednesday in a Missouri House committee. Chief Executive Officer Jim Owen testified that policyholders of the Columbia-based company would see little difference under a revised organizational structure while the company would likely be able to […]

The post Missouri’s largest workers comp insurer seeks legislative approval to become private company appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — After two strong years of growth, U.S. farm income is forecast to drop substantially in 2023 as commodity prices fall and expenses rise, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service reported Tuesday. And with food prices projected to rise into 2023, the nation’s producers will not be reaping the financial benefits. The economic […]

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Neither Gov. Mike Parson nor legislators should get a proposed pay raise for state workers, the Missouri House Budget Committee decided Tuesday. Parson asked lawmakers to approve an 8.7% pay hike, the biggest in living memory, to stem the loss of state workers to the private sector. No state department is fully staffed and some […]

The post Governor, lawmakers removed from plan to hike pay for Missouri state workers appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republican state Sen. Mike Moon was adamant Tuesday that his bill  to prohibit teachers from talking about sexual orientation or gender identity is not a “don’t say gay” bill.  But to Sen. Greg Razer, a Kansas City Democrat and the chamber’s only openly gay member, the label Moon chose for his bill didn’t matter. The […]

The post Missouri Senators debate bill barring discussion of sexual orientation, gender identity in school appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday night is expected in his State of the Union address to call on Congress to work with the administration to address in a bipartisan manner the fentanyl crisis, administration officials said on a call with reporters. Biden will call for expanded access to opioid-related addiction treatment and announce he will […]

The post Biden in State of the Union speech to call for bipartisan action on fentanyl crisis appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Some or all of the $859 million Gov. Mike Parson wants to spend on Interstate 70 improvements could become hostage to legislative pressure on the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission to drop a lawsuit over how much it pays employees. Filed in late 2021, the litigation in Cole County seeks to clarify the constitutional provision […]

The post Lawsuit over MoDOT pay plan could put roadblock into Missouri governor’s plan for I-70 appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Senate approved a bill Monday that would allow state agencies to waive regulations they believe are hindering certain businesses. The bill, which has raised fears among environmental advocates that it could undermine health and safety regulations, now heads to the Missouri House, which is already working on its own version.  Missouri legislators have […]

The post Missouri Senate approves bill creating program to waive regulations for eligible startups appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As Americans continue to struggle with high credit card rates, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a rule to help lessen some of their financial burden — in the form of lower late fees.  The new rule would limit late fees to $8. Currently credit card companies can charge as high as $41 — […]

The post Proposed federal rule would lower credit card late fees appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Department of Mental Health canceled a $16 million project to renovate a building at Fulton State Hospital for use as a sex offender treatment center because there is no realistic expectation of finding staff to run it. Lawmakers appropriated the money last year from federal COVID-19 recovery funds. Department Director Valerie Huhn told legislative […]

The post Vacancies, turnover leave thousands of jobs unfilled in Missouri state government appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As states plan how they’ll spend the $25 billion remaining in federal COVID-19 relief funds, some also are facing criticism and renewed scrutiny over how they allocated money already received from the American Rescue Plan Act. Of the $198 billion authorized by Congress in 2021, $173 billion already has been appropriated by states, the District […]

The post States criticized for spending federal relief funds on tax cuts, prisons appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri has made progress toward gathering the necessary eligibility data to begin distributing the benefits, but state officials still will not provide a timeline for when benefits will be disbursed. 

The post Still no timeline for Missouri families awaiting summer 2022 food assistance appeared first on Missouri Independent.

With just a little more than a month into the new legislative session, there is still time for Missouri lawmakers to change direction and focus on issues that are important to many Missourians.  But, will they? The legislature got off to a roaring start proposing bills to limit transgender students’ participation in schools’ sports, and […]

The post Doesn’t the Missouri legislature have more important issues to deal with? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will postpone his planned trip to Beijing after the U.S. detected a Chinese surveillance balloon hovering over Montana. A senior State Department official said Friday that despite the Chinese government claiming the balloon had entered U.S. airspace accidentally, its presence was a “clear violation of sovereignty.” The […]

The post Chinese surveillance balloon now drifting across the middle of the U.S., Pentagon confirms appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri Republicans have long argued a successful 2018 initiative petition establishing a nonpartisan redistricting process duped voters by pairing it with politically popular proposals like limits on lobbyist gifts to legislators.  Two years later, the GOP got in on the act, pushing its own ballot measure repealing the nonpartisan plan by tying it to a […]

The post ‘Ballot candy?’ Missouri GOP adds citizen-only voting into initiative petition changes appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A report from a patient advocacy group found the future of medical cannabis in the states is hazy unless costs are decreased, product safety standards are improved, and civil rights are strengthened for patients and prescribers. Americans for Safe Access issued its annual State of the States report on Thursday. The organization, a nonprofit, has […]

The post State medical cannabis programs failing to make enough progress, advocacy group finds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The director of Missouri’s Medicaid program said he expects “about 200,000” Medicaid enrollees to lose coverage over the course of a year as a result of the state resuming annual eligibility renewals after a three-year pause.  The state’s Department of Social Services has not previously provided a public estimate of those projected to lose coverage. […]

The post 200,000 Missourians estimated to lose Medicaid as eligibility renewals resume appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON – In its first meeting of the new congressional session, the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry gathered Wednesday for a hearing on the trade and horticulture titles in the upcoming farm bill. The legislators prioritized enforcing the nation’s agricultural trade agreements, expanding access to international markets and supporting underserved producers. “The […]

The post Trade agreements, access to foreign markets debated in U.S. Senate farm bill hearing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy huddled behind closed doors at the White House on Wednesday in the first of what will likely be several conversations as the country approaches two fiscal cliffs this year amid divided government. The top issue at the moment is when and how to address […]

The post Biden, McCarthy hold ‘productive’ and ‘frank’ debt limit talks as fiscal cliffs loom appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Black Democrats in the Missouri Senate held the chamber for roughly three hours Wednesday as they condemned a Republican-sponsored bill targeting diversity training and race curriculum. The debate at times got heated, such as when Democratic Sen. Barbara Washington accused Republican Sen. Rick Brattin of disrespectfully interrupting her during a discussion of the nation’s history […]

The post Black Senators hold up Missouri GOP’s critical race theory legislation appeared first on Missouri Independent.