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MoInd šŸ“°

A Christmas gift guide: What do you get for the Missouri politico who has it all?Ā 

2 years ago

Christmas is a special time of year, but it can be difficult for political professionals. While normal people are out shopping to find that perfect gift for their very special someone or touring wondrous Christmas light displays with their children, political pros are often privately occupied with more profane thoughts. ā€œIf I can just get […]

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Jeff Smith

ā€˜Not alone’: Missourians experiencing infertility say insurance is a major hurdle to care

2 years ago

SPRINGFIELD — Angela Crawford was desperately trying to get pregnant when her niece was born.Ā  The first time she held the infant, a cascade of tears fell. She quickly handed the baby back to her mother, fled to the bathroom and became catatonic. Loved ones tried to console her with well-meaning platitudes, but it was […]

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Anna Spoerre

Grassroots groups across the country help Medicaid recipients regain lost coverage

2 years ago

Eight monthsĀ after states startedĀ dropping millions of low-income familiesĀ fromĀ Medicaid rolls, grassroots groups say they are leading the push toĀ re-enroll people denied coverage for bureaucratic reasons. Nationwide, more than 12.5 million people have lost coverage since April. That’s when the federal pandemic provision that had required states not to drop anyone from the rolls expired and states […]

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Nada Hassanein

Deadline approaching for Missouri to opt in to federal summer food program

2 years ago

Missouri education and social services officials have not yet made a decision on whether to participate in a federal food assistance program next summer, weighing their ability to execute it after years of administrative challenges and delays. Participating in the program, called Summer EBT, would provide approximately $51.5 million in food benefits to 429,000 Missouri […]

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Clara Bates

In a statehouse short on space, Dean Plocher converted an office into a liquor ā€˜pantry’

2 years ago

For four years, state Rep. Mike Stephens occupied prime real estate on the third floor of the Missouri Capitol. His office in room 306B certainly wasn’t the biggest in the space-starved statehouse, where staff often work out of musty, windowless rooms, and many lawmakers are stacked on top of each other in non-ADA compliant mezzanines.Ā  […]

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Jason Hancock

A ā€˜chaotic’ January? Congress faces two shutdown deadlines with no action yet on spending

2 years ago

WASHINGTON — Congress is staring down a funding cliff in mid-January and a second one in early February, but neither of those deadlines have inspired House and Senate leaders to broker agreement on the dozen bills that were supposed to become law by Oct. 1. Appropriators are concerned the upcoming election year and competing legislative priorities […]

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Jennifer Shutt

Does 14th Amendment bar Trump from office? A constitutional scholar explains Colorado ruling

2 years ago

In 2024, former President Donald Trump will face some of his greatest challenges: Criminal court cases, primary opponents and constitutional challenges to his eligibility to hold the office of president again. The Colorado Supreme Court has pushed that latter piece to the forefront, ruling on Dec. 19, 2023, that Trump cannot appear on Colorado’s 2024 […]

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Mark A. Graber

US Senate negotiators see progress in immigration talks, but no deal likely until 2024

2 years ago

WASHINGTON — Senators attempting to clinch a bipartisan agreement on immigration and border policy gave the clearest indication yet Tuesday they’ll work into the new year, further delaying aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. ā€œWe are closer than ever before to an agreement, but … we need to get this right,ā€ said Connecticut Sen. Chris […]

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Jennifer Shutt

Colorado Supreme Court blocks Trump from 2024 ballot in historic insurrection ruling

2 years ago

The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered former President Donald Trump to be barred from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot under a Civil War-era insurrection clause, in a historic ruling certain to be promptly appealed to the nation’s highest court. Six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters, backed by the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics […]

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Chase Woodruff

Missouri legislative leader files bill targeting time-of-use utility pricing plans

2 years ago

One of Missouri’s highest-ranking lawmakers hopes to stop state regulators from forcing electric utilities to charge a premium for power used at times of high demand. The legislation filed by Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin was inspired by Evergy’s roll out of time-of-use pricing plans to its customers last summer, which included a plan that […]

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Allison Kite

Hopes dim even more for immigration agreement in US Senate before holidays

2 years ago

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators late Monday said they are closer to an agreement on changes to immigration policy in order to clear a multi-billion-dollar global security package, but any timing on a deal or details of that framework remained elusive. ā€œWhile the job is not finished, I’m confident that we’re headed in the right direction,ā€ […]

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Ariana Figueroa

The US avoided a recession in 2023. What’s the outlook for 2024?

2 years ago

Next year is packed with potential shifts in the economy but many economists and investment analystsĀ expectĀ thatĀ the country will likely avoid a recession in 2024 even as growth slows in the first half of the year. States Newsroom talked to economists about their expectations for some key metrics as well as their concerns about what could […]

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Casey Quinlan

Building transmission takes forever. The Biden administration is pushing to change that

2 years ago

The SOO Green electric transmission project, a 350-mile high-voltage line between Mason City, Iowa, and Plano, Illinois, was proposed in 2018 to deliver renewable power and to better connect the nation’s two largest power markets. The project wonĀ approvalĀ from Iowa regulators this fall. The developers of the line, which will link wind and solar power produced […]

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Robert Zullo

Why aren’t women business owners getting the support they need?

2 years ago

In business, relationships matter. This is the case for any organization, including small businesses, but the magnitude cannot be understated for women business owners. The impact of relationships is so vital, the creation of a small business hinging on a banking institution loaning money to get the business off the ground. Women business owners face […]

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Wendy Doyle

Fare-free buses can mean health gains in Kansas City

2 years ago

Almost four years after Kansas City became the first major American city to completely abandon bus fares, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority may go back to making riders pay. But researchers studying the public health effects of free-to-ride buses suggest considering a bigger picture before hitting up riders for money. Public health researchers from […]

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Suzanne King

Trump borrows from the language of Hitler for anti-immigration speech in New Hampshire

2 years ago

As leaders in Washington negotiate a bipartisan immigration deal, former President Donald Trump used inflammatory language to demonize immigrants during a Saturday campaign speech in New Hampshire that echoed Adolf Hitler. Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination for president in next year’s election, said that immigrants were ā€œpoisoning the blood of our country.ā€ He […]

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Jacob Fischler

More Hispanic families are reaching the middle class

2 years ago

The Hispanic middle class has grown faster than the white or Black middle class in the past decade and has reached near-parity with the white middle class in seven states, according to a new Stateline analysis. Between 2012 and 2022, the percentage of Hispanic households in the country that qualified as middle class grew from […]

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Tim Henderson

Missouri school administrators question district scores in second year of new formula

2 years ago

​​Livingston County R-III was among a litany of school districts last year with a performance report that could have put its accreditation in jeopardy. But this year, it has the highest score in Missouri, swelling more than 35 points to receive 96.1% of the points possible — a synthesis of student test scores, attendance, school-district […]

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Annelise Hanshaw

Researchers look at how to help more community college students gain four-year degrees

2 years ago

WASHINGTON — Community colleges and four-year universities can work together to improve the transfer student experience, a data report from the U.S. Department of Education suggests. The U.S. Department of Education releasedĀ dataĀ about the institutions where transfer students have the highest graduation rates in each state, with New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Maryland and Virginia doing […]

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Samantha Dietel

Census Bureau’s proposed changes threaten to undercount people with disabilities, advocates say

2 years ago

The Census Bureau has proposed a major change to disability questions on its annual American Community Survey that advocates say will reduce the number of people who are counted as disabled by 40%. The change in available data could affect federal funding allocations and the decisions government agencies make about accessible housing, public transit, and […]

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Casey Quinlan