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When Missouri’s health department refused to turn over certain documents to ProPublica reporter Pamela Colloff in October 2020, she did what the attorney general’s office directs anyone to do if they believe a government agency is illegally withholding public records. She filed a Sunshine Law complaint with Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, whose office enforces […]

The post Loophole means Attorney General rarely enforces Missouri Sunshine Law on state agencies appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by Congress last week includes $75 million in Help America Vote Act grants — a major reduction compared to years past. Experts say the $75 million is insufficient to fund local elections and leaves local election offices without resources to improve election infrastructure and protect the […]

The post Decline in federal grant funding for local elections criticized by advocates appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri lawmakers return to the state Capitol Monday to kick off the second half of the 2022 legislative session, facing a laundry list of unfinished business and simmering dysfunction.  The Missouri House, which passed a parade of legislative priorities during the first half of the session, will return to tackle a state budget overflowing with […]

The post Missouri legislature returns with GOP infighting hanging over a lengthy agenda appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A top FBI official told members of a U.S. House panel on Thursday that the agency believes a single juvenile is behind most of the bomb threats made to more than 30 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Ryan Young, executive assistant director of the Intelligence Branch at the FBI, said that the bomb […]

The post Most HBCU bomb threats may be coming from one juvenile, FBI official tells Congress appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by Kaiser Health News.  Missouri state Rep. Tricia Derges is pushing a bill to give assistant physicians like herself a pathway to becoming fully licensed doctors in the state. Not that Derges — among the highest-profile holders of the assistant physician license created in 2014 to ease a doctor shortage […]

The post Missouri tried to fix its doctor shortage. Now the fix may need fixing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine promises to be a fascinating issue for Missouri lawmakers in the session’s closing weeks. Already measures have been filed to prohibit state and local government from purchasing Russian products and ban contracts with businesses that have ongoing contracts with Russian “strategic industries.” There also are bills to suspend for six […]

The post Capitol Perspectives: Ukraine’s example for Missouri lawmakers appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday invoked the Pearl Harbor attacks ahead of World War II and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, while urging the United States to do more to stop the Russian war against his country. During the speech, delivered virtually to members of Congress in an auditorium on Capitol Hill, Zelenskyy drew a […]

The post Zelenskyy reminds Congress of Pearl Harbor and 9/11 in pleading for U.S. help for Ukraine appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Applying for health insurance through Medicaid expansion took Raven Cole just 10 minutes. But the wait to see if she’s approved has dragged on for months. The 23-year-old legal assistant applied for coverage, “well over two to three months ago.” “And I haven’t heard anything back,” Cole said. Cole is one of 72,657 Missourians who […]

The post Medicaid enrollment backlog persists as advocates say Missouri could be doing more appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Despite being struck down twice as unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court, legislation restricting who can vote is again being considered by state lawmakers. These laws would prohibit eligible voters from casting a ballot unless they present a government-issued ID with a photo of the voter. This is even though current forms of ID have […]

The post Democracy grows stronger when every eligible voter can vote | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

COLUMBIA — Two former Missouri senators believe it would be a good thing for democracy if everyone went out to lunch with someone who holds a different political view. “Take a Republican to lunch and don’t talk politics,” suggested John Danforth, a Republican. “Find someone who doesn’t agree with you, and treat that person as […]

The post ‘Not giving up on this democracy’: Danforth, McCaskill plea for civility in politics appeared first on Missouri Independent.

“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball,” second baseman Rogers Hornsby once said. “I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” For a while, it was looking like the start of spring would come and go without any baseball on the horizon. But […]

The post MLB’s collective bargaining agreement fails to address players’ biggest grievances | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A panel of Missouri judges tasked with redrawing 34 state Senate districts released a tentative plan Monday, part of a once-in-a-decade process that reconfigures political boundaries following the U.S. Census. The new map, drawn by the Judicial Redistricting Commission after a citizen commission failed to reach consensus, will be formally submitted to the Secretary of […]

The post Judges release new boundaries for Missouri Senate districts appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The coronavirus pandemic highlighted the need for federal assistance to develop high-speed internet connectivity in all parts of the country, members of a U.S. House subcommittee agreed this week as they reviewed provisions that are likely to be included in the next farm bill. “I represent a largely rural district in north-central, northeast Florida, and […]

The post Expanded rural broadband likely a focus of federal farm bill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Most of the enormous surplus accumulating in Missouri’s general revenue fund will be off-limits to members of the House Budget Committee when it prepares a fiscal year 2023 spending plan for floor debate. Gov. Mike Parson’s $47.3 billion budget proposal projects a $1.6 billion general revenue surplus at the end of June 2023. But the […]

The post Record surplus, massive federal aid mark Missouri budget set for committee work appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats and immigration advocates are pushing the White House to end a controversial Trump-era immigration policy enacted during the pandemic that allowed U.S. officials to expel migrants and asylum seekers at the border. “I continue to be disappointed, deeply disappointed, in the administration’s response,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, […]

The post Pressure ramps up to halt Trump-era policy that expels migrants at the border appeared first on Missouri Independent.

We have lots of problems in regards to energy. Community solar should be part of the answer. One issue is energy infrastructure. Having a massive grid makes customers susceptible to outages from extreme weather and cyberattacks. A centralized grid where power is produced hundreds of miles away requires big, expensive transmission lines. Lawmakers in Missouri […]

The post Community solar offers grid relief, energy independence | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Vulnerable lawmakers from throughout the country are set to rake in federal cash for home-state projects after a major spending bill included the first round of earmarks in more than a decade. Members from both political parties began requesting thousands of projects last year when U.S. House and Senate leaders resurrected what’s called […]

The post Return of earmarks a boon for members of Congress facing midterm battles appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Six years ago, Sal Valadez’s mother decided she wanted to take a U.S. citizenship test after living in the country for more than 60 years. “I said, ‘Mom, you’re 80 years old. Your English isn’t fantastic. Why?’” said Valadez, co-chair of the language access committee with the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition. “And she goes, ‘Because […]

The post Hispanic leaders ask for Missouri governor’s support in fighting voter ID laws appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The owner of several large newspapers in the Midwest on Thursday rebuffed the latest attempt at a takeover by a hedge fund known for gutting the news outlets it buys. Lee Enterprises shareholders voted to re-elect three board of director nominees at its annual shareholder meeting. That fended off a campaign by Alden Global Capital that aimed […]

The post Shareholders for Post-Dispatch owner reject hedge fund’s effort to shake up its board appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally co-published by KCUR and Kaiser Health News.  When Russell and Sharis Lewis want to unwind, they pack up their guns and drive from their home in a suburb north of St. Louis to an indoor range called the SharpShooter on the city’s south side. Russell dons big protective headphones, carefully lays […]

The post More Black Missourians are buying guns. Is it driving up Black suicide rates? appeared first on Missouri Independent.