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Josh Hawley puts Missouri at center of national fight over abortion pill

6 days 21 hours ago
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley has opened a new front in the fight over medication abortion, pushing legislation to revoke federal approval of mifepristone, urging the Justice Department to investigate its manufacturer and helping launch a national political group aimed at reshaping abortion debates after a string of losses on the ballot. The push has made […]
Anna Spoerre

Parental bill of rights legislation voted down in the Missouri House

6 days 21 hours ago
The Missouri House voted down a bill Thursday that would have expanded the rights of parents in their child’s school or doctor’s office. The bill faced robust debate Tuesday, which ended with the House signaling its approval with a vocal vote. However, the bill was unable to cross the threshold of votes needed Thursday for […]
Kennedy Voss, Anika Austvold

Arkansas marijuana company tied to more than a quarter of Missouri dispensaries

1 week ago
When Missouri voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2022, the constitutional amendment they approved carried forward a limit meant to prevent any single company from controlling too much of the market. But one key phrase from the state’s medical marijuana law was gone. The constitution’s medical marijuana provision barred the state from issuing more than five […]
Rebecca Rivas, Julia Garrison

Missouri appeals court rewrites ballot summary for congressional map referendum

1 week ago
A Missouri appeals court on Thursday rewrote the ballot summary for a proposed referendum on the state’s newly gerrymandered congressional map, ruling Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ description still included unsupported claims about the map approved by lawmakers last year. The Western District Court of Appeals reversed part of a Cole County ruling and certified […]
Jason Hancock

Missouri House passes bill creating high school athletics appeals board

1 week ago
The Missouri House gave final approval to a bill creating a state-run appellate body to oversee decisions made by the Missouri State High School Activities Association, passing the measure in a 92-39 vote Thursday despite criticism that it was an example of ā€œgovernment overreach.ā€ The legislation calls for a five-member board appointed by the governor […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Three shutdowns later, Trump signs bill that finishes funding the government

1 week ago
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a bill Thursday that will fund almost every agency in the Department of Homeland Security for the next five months, ending the shutdown that began in mid-February.  The House approved the bill, which doesn’t include additional spending on Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Border Patrol, on a voice […]
Jennifer Shutt

DOJ decision puts deportation target on Dreamers, Hispanic Caucus says

1 week ago
WASHINGTON — Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus raised serious concerns Thursday about the impact of a recent Department of Justice decision that will make it easier to deport hundreds of thousands of people brought into the country unlawfully as children, referred to as Dreamers.  Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro said the April 24 decision from the Department […]
Ariana Figueroa

US House passes ā€˜skinny’ farm bill that keeps big GOP cuts to food assistance

1 week ago
The U.S. House approved,Ā 224-200, a five-year farm bill Thursday as members of Congress attempt to update major agriculture and nutrition policy after three years of extensions. TheĀ bill would authorize subsidy and nutrition assistance programs through fiscal 2031. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated an earlier version of the bill would not meaningfully affect discretionary federal […]
Jacob Fischler

Many states unsure how to implement new Medicaid work requirements, KFF survey finds

1 week ago
WASHINGTON — State officials say they need more information from the Trump administration before they can fully implement new requirements for Medicaid, according to a survey released Thursday by KFF and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. Republicans’ ā€œbig, beautifulā€ law made several changes toĀ the state-federal health program for lower income people and […]
Jennifer Shutt

Americans’ air conditioning costs expected to rise again this summer

1 week ago
After facing costly heating bills this winter, consumers shouldn’t expect relief for the summer months, according to new projections for household utility costs.Ā  The National Energy Assistance Directors Association projects the average electricity cost to cool homes between June and September will reach $778 this summer. That’s a $61 — or 8.5% — increase from […]
Kevin Hardy

US House votes to launch process to provide billions for Trump mass deportations

1 week ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans adopted their budget resolution Wednesday night, clearing the way for the party to pass a bill in the coming weeks that will provide tens of billions in additional funding for immigration enforcement.Ā  TheĀ 215-211 party-line vote unlocks the complicated budget reconciliation process that will allow the GOP to fund Immigration and […]
Jennifer Shutt

Missouri lawmakers send wide-ranging public safety bill to the governor

1 week ago
The Missouri General Assembly passed a sweeping public safety bill Wednesday that Democrats say would correct errors in legislation signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe three weeks ago. The legislation also combines bills aimed at clarifying the state’s sex offender registry law, establishing procedures for court-ordered outpatient treatment of people with severe mental illnesses, allowing lifetime […]
Steph Quinn

Missouri bill making masked intimidation a crime clears Senate committee

1 week 1 day ago
A bill that would establish masked intimidation as a crime was passed by the Missouri Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee on Wednesday morning. The legislation, sponsored by Republican state Rep. David Dolan of Sikeston, would establish the new misdemeanor and outline its punishments. Masked intimation occurs when a person intentionally harasses, intimidates […]
Abigail Didonna

US Supreme Court limits use of race in congressional district remaps, diluting Voting Rights Act

1 week 1 day ago
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office on Monday invoked an upcoming landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision on the role of race in drawing congressional districts to justify the Republican’s proposed gerrymander. ā€œThe use of race in redistricting should never happen,ā€ the governor’s general counsel, David Axelman, wrote in a memo unveiling a map that aims to hand […]
Jonathan Shorman

Missouri Senate pares back plan to add Medicaid work requirements to constitution

1 week 1 day ago
A proposal to write Medicaid work requirements into the Missouri Constitution has been stripped down in a Senate committee to instead give lawmakers, the governor or the state’s social services department constitutional authority to impose them. Starting Jan. 1, 2027, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress will require new eligibility checks on […]
Steph Quinn

Millionaire taxes gain steam as states face budget crunches

1 week 1 day ago
While the idea of a special tax on millionaires is hotly debated across the country, Maine state Rep. Cheryl Golek characterized her state’s new tax as a modest and reasonable step toward fairness. That’s because, she said, working- and middle-class households in Maine — including teachers, firefighters and nurses — are paying effective state income […]
Kevin Hardy