The accidental exposure of student information from Missouri’s MOScholars program has reopened a broader fight over how much scrutiny the state’s private school voucher program should face. After The Independent reported last week that student names, schools and parent email addresses were accessible through the underlying data of a spreadsheet posted by the Missouri State […]
Nicci Rexroat, owner of A Place To Grow pre-kindergarten center, has worked in child care for 19 years, and she’s beginning to believe most of Missouri has become a child care desert. “You know, I have families calling me every day looking for spots, and we’re full in Jefferson City until August of 2027,” Rexroat […]
Recently, columnist Janice Ellis asked the question: “Who is the real Republican Party? Look at how it governs.” As the Missouri state chair for Our Republican Legacy, here is my answer. The Republican Party belongs to history, not to one man. The principled Republicans and conservatives are still here. And we’re not going anywhere. There […]
An accountable state government is like a seesaw: government on one side, people on the other. When it works, it moves in a steady rhythm — government acts, people respond. But when one side grows too heavy, the system stops working. The people can push, organize, and speak out, but the balance no longer shifts. […]
A bill to more than quadruple the time childhood sexual abuse victims have to sue their abusers stalled this week in the Missouri Senate after Democrats accused insurance lobbyists of using it to impose shorter limits on personal injury lawsuits. It’s the fourth year Republican state Rep. Brian Seitz of Branson has sponsored legislation aiming […]
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice dropped its investigation Friday of the Federal Reserve and Chair Jerome Powell over building renovation costs, a move that could open the door for new Fed leadership next month — and signaled a victory for North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said her office closed the […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is looking to eliminate funding in fiscal 2027 for the agency that serves as the primary federal funding source for libraries and museums nationwide. But congressional appropriators — who rebuffed similar efforts to gut the agency in fiscal 2026 — expressed little enthusiasm for the proposed cut in interviews with […]
President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail voting would shatter decades of U.S. Postal Service independence intended to shield it from partisan politics, postal experts and attorneys say. Postal experts said Trump ordering the postmaster general to take any action — let alone on a matter as sensitive as elections — violates guardrails in federal […]
A handful of states are considering legislation this session related to menopause and perimenopause, including proposals to mandate coverage and others to include work protections for people experiencing symptoms related to the conditions. Others have already said no to similar bills. Menopause typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, according to the National Institute […]
A Missouri Senate decision to use money set aside for Capitol renovations to shore up funding for public schools isn’t popular with Gov. Mike Kehoe or the budget chief in the Missouri House. But they aren’t dismissing it outright. Speaking to reporters at a news conference in his office, Kehoe said lawmakers who set $600 […]
The Missouri Senate approved legislation Wednesday that included corrections for multiple errors in another bill Gov. Mike Kehoe signed earlier this month. That bill, originally sponsored by Republican state Sen. Nich Schroer of Defiance, was an wide-ranging crime bill that included changes to juvenile detention centers in the state and mandatory prison time for adults […]
Months after having its federal family planning funding restored, the only Title X grantee program in Missouri is facing new threats from U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley. During a congressional hearing on the Department of Health and Human Services Budget on Wednesday, Hawley asked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to stop providing Title X funding […]
After passing with overwhelming bipartisan approval in the Missouri House this month, the state Senate is poised to consider legislation that would provide healthy, locally grown food to Medicaid recipients with chronic diet-related illnesses. Two “Food is Medicine” bills are under consideration. They would allow dietitians and other health care professionals to prescribe meals or […]
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a bill Thursday that will take all intoxicating hemp products off the shelves starting Nov. 12 — including THC seltzers currently sold in bars and grocery stores. The legislation largely aligns state law with the upcoming federal ban that Congress approved in November. “If you take the House and Senate […]
Medicinal marijuana products that are legal at the state level will see looser federal regulation under an order the U.S. Department of Justice published Thursday, while a process that could remove the drug in all forms from the federal list of the most dangerous drugs is set to begin in late June. The order, signed by […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans approved a budget resolution early Thursday intended to speed the way for billions for immigration enforcement, sending the measure to the House, where GOP lawmakers in that chamber need to adopt it to unlock the reconciliation process. The 50-48 vote followed a marathon amendment voting session that Democrats used to highlight […]
Nearly one-fifth of Americans relied on drinking water systems with elevated and potentially dangerous levels of nitrate in recent years, according to a new study released Thursday. The nonprofit Environmental Working Group examined test data collected by water systems across the country between 2021 and 2023, the most recent data available. Water systems serving more […]
Amal Khalifa “felt human” for the first time after she fled Egypt in 2019 for the United States and found kind treatment from police when she reported being a victim of domestic violence. “When I walked into that precinct I felt like a human being for the first time in my whole life,” Khalifa said. […]
Overly optimistic predictions for revenue from the lottery and casino taxes will cost Missouri school districts $245 per pupil before the fiscal year ends in June. And state lawmakers are now building next year’s budget around other funding sources that may prove just as uncertain. The Missouri Senate on Wednesday approved a spending plan for […]
Late last month, both chambers of the Missouri legislature began hearings on proposals to introduce electrical choice and competition, challenging the state’s long-standing model of electricity generation and delivery. At the core of the debate is a basic economic principle: competition tends to put downward pressure on costs. Currently, because we cannot reasonably expect multiple […]
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