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For decades, motorists crossing Missouri have cursed congestion on Interstate 70. And almost as long, the Missouri Department of Transportation has warned that the road, one of the first interstate highways to be built in the 1950s, needs major reconstruction. “The option to do nothing on I-70 is not there,” Kevin Keith, then-director of MODOT, […]

The post Lawmaker wants to use Missouri surplus to widen I-70 appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. States, cities and community groups that offer free money to families to jump-start college savings face a dilemma: The families most in need often fail to sign up. To solve the problem, some states have transformed the accounts into automatic programs […]

The post Some states open college savings accounts for every newborn appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Climate change believers by and large say that for decades Big Agriculture has spewed huge amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. And they’re not wrong. EPA estimates that agriculture accounted for 11.2% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2020. So it’s quite obvious that in order to combat climate change the feds […]

The post Feds need to keep watchful eye on climate-smart grants appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday it will hear oral arguments in February over a legal challenge by six Republican-led states to the Biden administration student borrower relief plan. Until the arguments are heard and the court issues a ruling, the $400 billion Biden plan is on hold due to a nationwide injunction […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court to review Biden student debt relief plan in February appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to codify an agreement the White House brokered between rail unions and freight companies in order to avoid a catastrophic rail strike, but fell short of enough votes to include paid sick leave for workers. The Senate backed the rail deal on an 80-15 vote and rejected […]

The post U.S. Senate averts freight rail strike, but bid to include worker sick leave fails appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After the tragic St. Louis school shooting on Oct. 24 where a shooter killed a 15-year-old student and a health teacher, Missouri Democrats vowed to push legislation establishing stricter gun safety regulations. On Thursday — the first day legislators could pre-file bills — state  Rep. David Smith, D-Columbia, filed legislation to prohibit anyone under 20 […]

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WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans voted Wednesday to keep earmarks in place when they take over the chamber in January, a move that solidifies GOP support for the controversial spending practice that was brought back under new guardrails and transparency mechanisms less than two years ago.  Earmarking has become especially important to members of both […]

The post U.S. House GOP to keep earmarks for local projects — with some ‘tweaks’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republican Will Scharf, a key player in Gov. Eric Greitens’ brief state administration, will be a candidate himself in 2024, he said Wednesday, but what office he is seeking is uncertain. Scharf issued a news release announcing he’d formed a committee to raise money for a statewide campaign. An attorney, Scharf has spent the past […]

The post Former aide to Greitens plans bid for Missouri office in 2024 appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. House moved Wednesday to avoid an economically disastrous nationwide rail strike, voting to codify an agreement that members of some unions had already rejected and separately add paid sick leave that workers had demanded. The two-track approach allows Democrats to avert a strike that could cost the U.S. economy up to $2 billion […]

The post U.S. House votes to avert calamitous rail strike, but Senate prospects murky appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The three U.S. House Democrats who have led their party through four presidencies and thousands of floor votes formally passed the torch to the next generation Wednesday, when the party gathered behind closed doors to elect its top leaders for the 118th Congress.  House Democrats named Hakeem Jeffries, of New York, as their […]

The post U.S. House Democrats make history electing first Black party leader in Congress appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON —  Members of a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee panel raised concerns during a Tuesday hearing that a proposed merger between two of the largest U.S. supermarket chains could mean a monopoly on groceries and lead to higher food prices for Americans. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat who chairs the Subcommittee on Competition […]

The post Albertsons-Kroger mega-deal raises questions from lawmakers about higher food prices appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A coal-fired power plant must cut emissions and an aluminum smelter must spend millions to rid a community in Missouri’s Bootheel of sulfur dioxide pollution by 2026 under a deal with state environmental regulators.  Part of New Madrid County is out of compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards for having triple the limit of sulfur […]

The post Sulfur dioxide pollution in the Bootheel breaks EPA rules. Regulators look to fix it appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Corporate executives with political beliefs aligned with the person serving as president of the United States tend to express that partisan affinity with more optimistic business forecasts and disclosures, university researchers say. Research published by faculty at the University of Kansas and San Diego State University indicated business officers, whether identified as supporters of Republican […]

The post Corporate executives offer rosier business forecasts if politically aligned with a U.S. president appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate approved legislation Tuesday that would enshrine protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, codifying many of the rights that would disappear if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn those landmark decisions the way it overturned the nationwide right to an abortion this summer.  The 61-36 bipartisan vote sends the bill […]

The post Same-sex marriage protected under bill passed by U.S. Senate with GOP support appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said Tuesday he is “flabbergasted” retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt supports a bill adding federal legal protections to same-sex marriages. Ashcroft, a Republican considering a bid for governor in 2024, sent Blunt a letter Tuesday asking him to reverse his stance and work to block the Respect for Marriage […]

The post Ashcroft criticizes Blunt support for Senate bill protecting same-sex marriage appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon.  Gregg Lombardi estimates the Lykins neighborhood in northeast Kansas City is on track to win the battle against blight by next year. The Lykins Neighborhood Association and Neighborhood Legal Support of Kansas City, both of which Lombardi directs, have been working to support residents and make abandoned homes […]

The post Kansas City’s historic northeast pushes back against proposed school closures appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Supreme Court late Monday night refused to delay the execution of Kevin Johnson, a St. Louis man sentenced to die for a murder he committed when he was 19.  The execution of Johnson, who was convicted in 2007 of killing a police officer, will be carried out during the 24-hour period beginning at […]

The post Missouri Supreme Court denies stay for Kevin Johnson’s execution appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is processing claims at the fastest rate in its history, hoping to avoid a significant backlog as hundreds of thousands of veterans apply for health care and benefits under the landmark toxic exposure law Congress passed earlier this year. The day after President Joe Biden signed the […]

The post Thousands of veterans deluge VA with claims for toxic exposure benefits, health care appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Among the items on Congress’ lengthy to-do list by the end of the year is U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s proposal to speed up the federal government’s permitting process that certifies energy projects do not harm the environment. But the bill, which was a condition of the centrist West Virginia Democrat’s support for his party’s larger […]

The post Little appetite for Manchin permitting bill in congressional lame-duck session appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For the first time in its history, the only real limit on what Missouri can buy on a cash-and-carry basis is the imagination of the people spending the money. The state treasury is bulging with more than $6 billion in surplus cash, the result of 28 months of double-digit revenue growth and federal payments tied […]

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