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Missouri Republican Senate leaders on Tuesday won confirmation for all of Gov. Mike Parson’s pending appointees to state office as members of the Freedom Caucus backed down from a demand that the upper chamber approve initiative petition changes as the price for confirmation. For almost 16 hours, members of the caucus and their allies held […]

The post Deal on initiative changes, Parson appointees ends overnight Missouri Senate filibuster appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A bill that would allow students to enroll in neighboring school districts won initial approval in the Missouri House for the fourth year in a row Tuesday on an 83-69 vote.  It is the first bill to be debated by the full House this legislative session. It must be approved one more time by the […]

The post Open enrollment legislation wins initial approval in Missouri House appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The United States needs an estimated 7 million more homes to house everyone who needs shelter. But to build all those homes, experts say, America would need many more construction workers. “The biggest challenge that the construction industry is facing, to put it tongue in cheek, is that people don’t want their babies to grow up to […]

The post The US needs homes. But first, it needs the workers to build them appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republican lawmakers are once again pushing legislation that would require Missouri to conduct a clinical study on using psilocybin, more commonly referred to  as “magic mushrooms,” to treat depression, substance use or as part end-of-life care.  Last year, the House overwhelmingly approved the measure. But it never made it to a final House vote. Hearings […]

The post Debate over psychedelic therapy returns to Missouri General Assembly appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A bipartisan bill debated in a state Senate committee Monday would ban child marriage in Missouri.  Under current law, 16 and 17-year-olds are allowed to get married with parental consent. Marriage between a minor and anyone 21 or older is prohibited. The legislation discussed Monday afternoon would prohibit issuing marriage licenses to anyone under the […]

The post Missouri lawmakers seek to ban child marriage without exception appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee is gearing up for only the second impeachment in U.S. history of a Cabinet member. The Republican-led committee on Tuesday will mark up articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, for what Democrats say is no more than a difference in immigration policy […]

The post U.S. House Republicans set to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appeared first on Missouri Independent.

MOSCOW, Kansas — Brownie Wilson pulls off a remote dirt road right through a steep ditch and onto a farmer’s field. He hops out of his white Silverado pickup, mud covering nearly all of it except the Kansas Geological Survey logo stuck on the side with electrical tape. Dry cornstalks crunch under his work boots […]

The post Agriculture built these High Plains towns. Now, it might run them dry appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s practice of taking millions of dollars in Social Security benefits owed to foster kids to defray the cost of providing care could come to an end under legislation debated last week in a House committee.  The state took at least $6.1 million in foster kids’ benefits last year — generally Social Security benefits for […]

The post Legislation aims to stop Missouri from seizing federal benefits owed to foster kids appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In early 2020, Peapod Learning Center in Springfield had a waiting list years out.  The nature and farm preschool earned state recognition as it continued to expand after opening more than a decade earlier. “It was off the charts wonderful,” said owner and director Carly Walton.  Then the pandemic hit. By June 2020, the farm […]

The post Missouri child care crisis a top priority for governor, bipartisan group of lawmakers appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The greatest choice voters will have to make during the 2024 presidential election is whether to stand for truth or go along with the lies. But how can voters discern and distinguish truth from lies, facts from fiction? It seems truth and facts have become expendable commodities in the public square. We must wonder whether […]

The post The 2024 elections will be a choice between truth and lies appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Less than a day after a draft letter from state Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden’s home Republican county committee demanding his resignation began circulating on social media, the party’s chairman tried to retract it. The letter, which also called for Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin of Shelbina to resign, was never intended to be […]

The post Boone County GOP committee retracts demand for resignation of Missouri Senate leaders appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Although it’s spotty and inconsistent in many places, wastewater testing is pointing to a new wave of COVID-19 infections, with as many as one-third of Americans expected to contract the disease by late February. With pandemic fatigue also in full force, and deaths and hospitalizations well down from peaks in 2021 because of high vaccination […]

The post Wastewater tests show COVID infections surging, but pandemic fatigue limits precautions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Kansas City Royals want voters to promise four more decades of tax money to underwrite a new stadium. Parking attendants, beer vendors and the other people who tend to fans want more leverage on their wages. And the Royals say the team stands willing to bargain, offering to enter into a community benefits agreement […]

The post Jackson County sent the Royals stadium tax to the ballot. Labor gears up for tough talks appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Missouri man investigating his son’s death filed a lawsuit this week against a Louisiana district attorney who’s demanding more than $18,000 for copies of investigation records related to the case. Since his son’s death nearly seven years ago, Bob Arthur has pursued justice with little to no help from police or prosecutors. He has […]

The post Missouri man sues Louisiana DA over $18,000 fee to access records of son’s death appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Top U.S. Senate negotiators said Thursday that final details on an immigration policy deal remain under debate in the U.S. Senate, despite outside pressure from GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump to sink any agreement as he makes immigration his central campaign message. The No. 2 Senate Republican and GOP whip, Sen. John Thune, […]

The post U.S. Senate Republicans insist they won’t bow to Trump demands to quit immigration talks appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The factional fights making the Missouri Senate a public spectacle are bad enough that Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin told reporters Thursday that she’d vote to expel the leader of the Freedom Caucus from the chamber. Speaking to the assembled editors and publishers from the Missouri Press Association during their annual visit to the Capitol, […]

The post Missouri Senate GOP warfare escalates with suggestion of expelling Freedom Caucus leader appeared first on Missouri Independent.

  WASHINGTON — Bipartisan U.S. senators are sounding the alarm on cost, workforce shortages and dangerous incidents at assisted living facilities across the country as the needs of aging Americans are forecast to sharply increase. Sen. Bob Casey, chair of the Senate Committee on Aging, led a hearing Thursday to highlight the panel’s fact finding mission. Unlike […]

The post U.S. Senate panel examines quality, costs of assisted living centers appeared first on Missouri Independent.

  WASHINGTON — Congress has spent more than six years avoiding its responsibility to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, using a series of stopgap bills to extend the life of the program that has issued nearly 5 million policies. The lackadaisical approach to brokering a five-year reauthorization of the program was one of several […]

The post Major changes in federal flood insurance program urged by U.S. Senate panel appeared first on Missouri Independent.

One of the nation’s last primary aluminum smelters, which employs more than 400 workers in the Missouri Bootheel, will reportedly close its doors. The Magnitude 7 Metals plant, in the southeast Missouri town of Marston, announced Wednesday it would curtail operations, according to Industrious Labs, an industry analysis group. In a press release, Industrious Labs […]

The post One of nation’s only aluminum smelters set to close in Missouri Bootheel appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After years of court losses and legislative stalemates, Republicans and anti-abortion advocates in Missouri are once again trying to block Planned Parenthood from receiving money through Medicaid. A Senate committee debated legislation Wednesday that would change Missouri law to make Planned Parenthood ineligible to receive reimbursements from MO HealthNet, the state’s Medicaid program. Though the […]

The post Missouri Republicans push bill to defund Planned Parenthood after years of legal fights appeared first on Missouri Independent.