For Quinton Hayes Jr. and his classmates, social media “is where a lot of our lives happen.” The 12-year-old middle school student from Bloomington said that includes having fun, talking with friends — and bullying. “It follows you home,” he said, “onto your phone, into your head.” Hayes described how his friend was affected when […]
A perfect storm has arrived on the ledgers of many state budgets, bearing down on the people who often need help the most. Federal and state policy decisions, the end of pandemic aid and long-term fiscal trends — such as people aging into Social Security benefits — are requiring states to take a tougher look […]
Airport security workers missed work Monday at the highest rate since a partial government shutdown began in mid-February, the Department of Homeland Security said, and the Trump administration sent immigration officials to some airports in an attempt to keep lines moving. Travelers reported hourslong security lines at major airports in Atlanta and Houston, while waits […]
A simple idea is gaining traction in Jefferson City: fund colleges based on how many students they enroll, and let the money follow the student. It sounds fair. It sounds efficient. And it is more complicated than it appears. Missouri lawmakers are right to revisit how the state funds higher education. The current approach lacks […]
Missouri residents can receive state income tax credits on donations to food pantries, homeless shelters and soup kitchens. Two bills seeking to make adjustments to those credits were discussed Monday afternoon by a Missouri House committee. One bill, introduced by Republican state Rep. John Voss of Cape Girardeau, would eliminate the Dec. 31 expiration date […]
The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative justices on Monday appeared skeptical of the validity of mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, in a case that could potentially affect hundreds of thousands of voters during the upcoming midterm elections. The high court heard arguments on whether federal law overrides a Mississippi law that requires mail-in ballots […]
Backers of a proposed referendum on Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional plan believe they have met the minimum number of signatures needed to make the November’s ballot. Updated data, posted Monday morning by People Not Politicians, the political action committee that organized a referendum petition drive, shows that the petition has at least 129% of the required […]
Federal Medicaid cuts could exact a heavy toll on psychiatric units at hospitals across the country, many of which are already struggling to keep their doors open but provide essential mental health care to people who need it. Psychiatric units are costly and, like labor and delivery services, typically lose money for hospitals and tend […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday said his administration is in talks with Iran about resolving the war, a claim that significantly tamped down oil prices and spurred market increases in Europe and the United States — though Iran denied any progress in negotiations. Writing on his social media platform, Truth Social, the president […]
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is again trying to send the wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the west African nation of Liberia and urging a federal judge to dismiss a bar on his removal, according to legal documents filed over the weekend. Abrego Garcia, of Maryland, has agreed to be deported to Costa Rica, […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case to determine if a migrant on Mexico’s side of a border crossing with the United States can legally apply for asylum when arriving at a U.S. port of entry. The case, which stems from a policy during President Donald Trump’s first term […]
Legislative spring break is over, and Missouri lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Monday with a packed agenda and a May 15 deadline to adjourn. The second half of the session begins with a tighter budget picture, unresolved fights over taxes and public benefits, and a Senate that has already shown it can consume time […]
Since their peak less than three years ago, opioid overdose deaths dropped nearly by half as of October, according to a Stateline analysis. The drop comes as a shrinking fentanyl supply has made the drug weaker and less deadly and volunteer efforts get more people into treatment. The weaker fentanyl tracks to a crackdown on […]
A coalition of progressive groups in Missouri is using the fight over a proposal to eliminate the state income tax to build a coordinated alliance that organizers hope lasts beyond any single legislative battle. Led by 24 organizations, with more expected to join, the coalition held eight meetings across Missouri this month as labor, reproductive […]
Missouri lawmakers are weighing whether to restructure the state’s electricity markets. Before moving forward, they should take a hard look at how restructured markets have performed during extreme weather and how they have affected household utility bills. The record is clear: when reliability mattered most, restructured markets repeatedly failed, and over time, families, farmers, and […]
The earnings gap between men and women slightly widened last year, according to a new analysis published Thursday. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute calculated women last year earned 18.6% less than men per hour on average. That’s up slightly from 2024, when the wage gap narrowed slightly to 18%. The wage analysis, which examines several […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department will take over the Department of Education’s responsibility for collecting on defaulted federal student loan debt, President Donald Trump’s administration announced Thursday. It’s the first step in a multi-phase process that will end with Treasury taking on the entire federal student loan portfolio. It’s also the latest interagency agreement announced […]
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday announced an investigation into 13 states that require health insurance plans to cover abortion care. In a news release, the agency said the investigation is based on allegations that the states are coercing health care entities to provide coverage of abortion “contrary to conscience” and in […]
About $95 million in Missouri marijuana-tax revenue that voters set aside for veterans services, public defenders and drug-addiction treatment programs sat unspent at the end of the last fiscal year. And budget projections show that unused pile of cash would still be more than $60 million over the next two years unless lawmakers authorize the […]
In early 2026, a small group of first-grade students at Lucy Wortham James Elementary School in St. James, Missouri, sat together sounding out words. Kim Williams, the school’s principal, watched as they worked through the lesson. One young boy caught her attention. “This student had struggled significantly the year before and often avoided reading tasks,” […]
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