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A St. Charles County Circuit Court judge dismissed Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s lawsuit Thursday against the local school district’s now-rescinded mask mandate, leaving few cases from Schmitt’s legal blitz remaining. The City of St. Charles School District was one of 47 districts Schmitt sued earlier this year over mask mandates, and it was one of […]

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The largest budget in Missouri history passed with relative ease Friday, in part because the final version was larger than the spending plans passed earlier in either the House or Senate. The total, just over $49 billion, includes big increases for school transportation, help for colleges and universities in the form of bigger budgets and […]

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Missouri lawmakers are poised to require schools test and, potentially, filter drinking water to prevent lead poisoning, making the state one of just a handful that require administrators to meet standards stricter than federal regulations. The state offers grants for schools to pay for water testing, but there is no requirement to test, and only […]

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An expansive set of proposed changes to Missouri’s open records law backed by Gov. Mike Parson has transparency advocates alarmed that legislators may be poised to undermine the law. The changes touch on everything from narrowing the definitions of “public business” and “public meetings;” closing records that include draft documents or relate to proposed legislation; […]

The post Lawmakers debate changes to Missouri Sunshine Law that would conceal more records appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The path to passage for a bill spending almost $3 billion in federal COVID-19 relief was paved with money Thursday. But about 20 minutes of discussion was all it took to win a 26-5 vote from the upper chamber after 18 new projects were added along with a $500 million set-aside from general revenue for […]

The post Missouri Senate signs off on $3 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens will get to look at his ex-wife’s telephone records from the days before she filed explosive allegations of child and spousal abuse against the Republican Senate candidate. In an order dated April 28, Associate Circuit Judge Leslie Schneider overruled Sheena Greitens’ motion to quash subpoenas for her phone logs and […]

The post Judge grants Eric Greitens access to ex-wife’s phone records in custody case appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A years-long effort to halt development of a massive electrical transmission line across Missouri gave way early Thursday morning to a compromise bill endorsed by the energy company.  For years, Chicago-based Invenergy has been developing a 4,000 megawatt transmission line, called Grain Belt Express, expected to carry clean energy from southwest Kansas across Missouri and […]

The post Missouri Senate approves eminent domain reform that wouldn’t kill Grain Belt Express appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A record state operating budget that a top legislative Republican said “has a little bit of something for everyone” is heading for final votes in the Missouri General Assembly as tax revenue continues to pour into the treasury in historic amounts. Final figures weren’t available Wednesday, but the spending plan that emerged from a day […]

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TOPEKA — The stakes for the August vote over a Kansas constitutional amendment on abortion access were made clear by the leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion striking down federal abortion protection rights. The draft opinion rejecting the landmark Roe v. Wade decision is not final and does not necessarily set in stone the opinion of Supreme […]

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This story was originally published by The Kansas City Beacon.  William Jewell College brands itself as “The Critical Thinking College.” Three “key questions” are central to the curriculum of the Liberty, Missouri, institution: What is real? What can we know? How should we live? But as a student- and faculty-led group called the Slavery, Memory and Justice Project applied critical […]

The post William Jewell has two groups doing slavery research. Some say that’s a problem appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday pledged a new vote codifying the right to an abortion after publication of a draft court ruling that showed the Supreme Court on track to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision. Democrats, who likely won’t have the votes to advance that bill, also predicted that abortion […]

The post U.S. Senate to try again on abortion rights after bombshell disclosure of draft opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri lawmakers will try one more time before they adjourn for the year to reach agreement on a new Congressional redistricting map. If they fail, the job will likely fall to the courts. But with three pending lawsuits – one in federal court and two in state court – it is uncertain where a map […]

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If a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade holds true, nearly all abortions in Missouri would become illegal. But anti-abortion advocates worry the ban would be swiftly met with lawsuits. They hope the leaked U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe will jumpstart efforts to place a proposal on the statewide ballot declaring […]

The post GOP eyes amending Missouri constitution to ensure no right to abortion exists post-Roe appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A bipartisan bill aimed at improving student literacy morphed into an omnibus education package after it was passed out of the House Monday night with amendments dealing with open enrollment, school protection officers and school board meetings. Senate Bill 681, sponsored by Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, initially aimed to boost students’ reading comprehension by requiring […]

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A Republican lawmaker pushing legislation to legalize recreational marijuana in Missouri says his bill is in jeopardy because of stall tactics by his GOP colleagues and the insistence of the House floor leader that it include license caps. Rep. Ron Hicks, R-Defiance, said he was initially told his marijuana legalization bill would come up for debate […]

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Opponents of a new cross-state recreation trail along the old Rock Island Railroad corridor have the upper hand in the General Assembly after the state Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday cut the funds needed to develop it for use. The committee approved four spending bills for the coming year to pay for new construction, repair […]

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. House committee looking into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol sent letters Monday to Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama and Ronny Jackson of Texas, asking them to share information about meetings and conversations they had in the days and weeks leading up to the insurrection. “The […]

The post Jan. 6 panel asks three GOP members of the U.S. House to cooperate in probe appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s legislature enters its final days of the 2022 legislative session facing an unusually large pile of partisan and ideological divisive issues. In an election year, it is not unusual that some legislators seek to highlight issues that will inspire their party’s loyalists to vote. This year’s partisan issues include requiring a photo ID to […]

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For almost a half hour Thursday afternoon, the Missouri Capitol hallways echoed with the familiar tones and gently stated voice calling state senators to the floor: “The absence of a quorum has been noted.” Inside the chamber, Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, waited. His top priority bill, to ban transgender youth from participating on sports […]

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Three months after Attorney General Eric Schmitt launched a legal blitz against 47 school districts across the state, nearly all the cases have petered out as COVID infection rates plummeted and mask mandates were lifted. But four cases live on. While he’s moved to drop nearly every lawsuit he filed, Schmitt has opposed attempts by […]

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