Local laws prohibiting landlords from discriminating against tenants who receive public assistance are unenforceable under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Mike Kehoe. The legislation takes aim at ordinances passed in several Missouri cities to protect tenants from discrimination based on the source of their income — especially tenants who use federal housing choice vouchers, known […]
A Missouri bill closing records with personal information about young people and state court personnel includes provisions that could help governments hide records intended to be public, open government advocates said Monday. Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the bill Monday, along with 11 other measures, as he finished work on legislation passed this year by state […]
Twenty-eight cities and counties including Baltimore, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Rochester, New York, joined a lawsuit July 10 challenging Trump administration attempts to withhold federal funds because of local policies on immigration enforcement; diversity, equity and inclusion; gender equity; and abortion access. Funding for housing, transit, health care, civil rights and other essential programs has […]
Though many legislative sessions have concluded for the year, states could soon see more changes to reproductive health care access with new federal legislation that might lead to clinic closures, as well as pending health policies on abortion pills. Reduced access to abortion and reproductive health care are expected following the reconciliation budget bill President Donald […]
New members of the Missouri State Board of Education discovered their powers to direct schools are more limited than they expected during a retreat last week. The board spent two days talking about the powers it has — and those it does not — to impact a public education system they’d like to tweak. “People […]
When St. Louis Alderman Shane Cohn filed legislation last year to regulate intoxicating hemp products, he didn’t hear much about it from local residents or leaders of the fast-growing industry. “I did not get one call, email, etc., when I introduced this last session,” Cohn said, a Democrat who represents a southern portion of St. […]
Global clashes and trade wars hammered Midwestern states’ agricultural economies early this year, while a continuing boom in Southeastern states’ housing and tech jobs kept their economies humming along. Some Southeastern states were seeing a strong agricultural economy because of still-rising poultry and egg prices, though small row-crop farmers there were still caught in the […]
In this toxic political environment it may seem like we, the people of the state of Missouri and the United States, do not have the power to control the policies that determine what the “Show Me” state and the “Land of the Free” become. We do. But only if we are willing to take a […]
Congress’ passage of President Donald Trump’s spending and tax cuts bill this month could help grow the market for sustainable aviation fuel, a nascent industry that could be a boon for corn-producing states as airline operators are betting on it to decarbonize the sector. The Republican budget reconciliation law that Trump signed July 4 pared back […]
The proliferation of decision-making artificial intelligence systems into consequential facets of life is posing threats to Americans and increasing racial biases, tech and legal experts with the American Civil Liberties Union said during the organization’s AI Summit Thursday. “We’re now at a place where automated systems and AI are being used increasingly throughout our lives, […]
At least a quarter of hospitals in seven states closed their obstetric services between 2010 and 2022, according to a new study in the journal Health Affairs. And in six states, more than 60% of hospitals lacked obstetrics by 2022. Using data from the American Hospital Association and federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, […]
As a postpartum doula, Dawn Oliver does her best work in the middle of the night. During a typical shift, she shows up at her clients’ home at 10 p.m. She answers questions they may have about basic infant care and keeps an eye out for signs of postpartum depression. After bedtime, she may feed […]
GREENBELT, Maryland — U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis seemed inclined during a Friday hearing to grant a temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration from deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he is released from pretrial detention next week. Xinis said if she granted a temporary restraining order, it would be narrow and would prevent […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal judge Friday to reverse course and allow the Trump administration to implement a provision in the “big, beautiful” law that prevents Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood for one year. The request was filed just days after Judge Indira Talwani issued a temporary restraining order, […]
WASHINGTON — A national private school voucher program is now law, though the school choice initiative comes with a huge caveat. States also choose — whether or not to participate. It’s a setback for advocates who hoped to see the program — baked into the mega tax and spending cut bill President Donald Trump signed […]
This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s plan to relocate the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters to the Ronald Reagan building in the District of Columbia, and not a previously selected location in suburban Maryland, hit a roadblock Thursday. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to adopt an amendment from Maryland Democratic Sen. […]
Missouri lawmakers have banned educators from leaning on a model of reading instruction called the “three-cueing” method as part of a bipartisan education package signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe on Wednesday. The law mandates that three cueing, which teaches students to read using context clues, can be used to supplement lessons, but phonics should be […]
You’d be forgiven if among all the scary national and international headlines of the past few weeks you missed the first meeting of the newly formed Religious Liberty Commission. You may not have even heard of this Trump-appointed commission of almost entirely Christian Nationalists tasked with “safeguard(ing) and promot(ing) America’s founding principle of religious freedom.” […]
GREENBELT, Maryland — A top U.S. immigration official testifying in federal court Thursday did not give details of the Trump administration’s plans to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he is released from pre-trial detention next week in Tennessee. Thomas Giles, the assistant director for enforcement and removal operations at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was noncommittal […]
Missouri investors will get a tax break when they take profits and motorists will pay more to renew vehicle registrations under separate bills signed Thursday by Gov. Mike Kehoe. Kehoe’s signature on the bill granting an income tax exemption for capital gains — profits on investments — marks the third major tax cut in the […]
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