Whether Missourians will vote on a proposal to replace the state income tax with sales taxes — and what the ballot will say if they do — must be decided by June 9, attorneys said Friday morning to a Cole County judge. That is the deadline for courts to order changes to the Aug. 4 […]
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with a fund that opponents fear will be used to pay off the president’s political allies. Judge Leonie Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia issued a brief order halting the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department and other high-ranking administration officials from […]
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent decision to downgrade the drug classification for medical cannabis will help medical marijuana businesses. Companies will be able to claim some federal tax benefits. New research can start up at state universities. But the broader divide between federal and state marijuana policy remains largely intact, leaving states to navigate […]
Hearing backlash from residents, cities and counties across the country in recent weeks have blocked planned data centers amid concerns over rising electricity prices and environmental harms. The local actions come as state lawmakers also are looking to limit or repeal the incentives for the centers, which are sprawling campuses of computer servers that store […]
WASHINGTON — A pair of U.S. senators reached a bipartisan agreement on a sweeping bill aimed at tackling many of the biggest issues surrounding how to compensate players in college sports. GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state — the top members of the Senate committee with jurisdiction […]
A Missouri bill awaiting action from Gov. Mike Kehoe would give judges broader power to quickly dismiss lawsuits designed to chill speech, replacing what supporters have long described as among the weakest anti-SLAPP laws in the country. The legislation, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Mike Henderson of Desloge, would repeal Missouri’s current anti-SLAPP law and […]
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund has attracted scrutiny for its corruption potential, even splitting congressional Republicans who rarely confront President Donald Trump’s decisions and policies. Among the top concerns: Could pardoned Jan. 6, 2021, riot defendants who assaulted police officers claim a slice of the pie and essentially be rewarded […]
The 2026 legislative session saw one Republican consistently advocate for the traditions of the Senate, often in opposition to his party. State Sen. Lincoln Hough, a Republican from Springfield, is term-limited. What he experienced in his final session is a window into the consequences for someone who veers from party loyalty, not unlike what has […]
WASHINGTON — A group of U.S. Senate Democrats has sent a letter to the head of the Congressional Budget Office, asking him to include outside projections for the cost of the Iran war in the agency’s official cost estimate. “The American people deserve to know the true costs of this conflict, and they deserve transparency […]
WASHINGTON — Following a dismissal of criminal charges the Trump administration lodged against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the wrongly deported Maryland resident Thursday pressed a federal judge to prevent his removal to any country that is not Costa Rica, which has agreed to accept him as a refugee. The filing in the federal District Court for […]
The Trump administration wants the U.S. Supreme Court to empower states to review their voter rolls for noncitizens just days before elections, a change that voting rights advocates say would risk disenfranchising Americans. The U.S. Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to wade into a legal fight between the Republican National Committee and […]
A federal judge on Thursday declined to block President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting voting by mail, finding that it was too early to challenge the directive. The decision by D.C. District Court Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, represents a setback for Democratic groups, lawmakers and other groups including the NAACP that have sued to […]
Southern states are bracing for a potential invasion of the New World screwworm that could disrupt livestock markets and raise already high meat prices. So far, the parasite has yet to land in the United States, but it has been spreading across Mexico and Central America. Previously eradicated from the United States in the 1960s, […]
As Missouri prepares to limit what low-income families can purchase with public food benefits this fall, grocers say they need to know which items to block at the register. The changes, planned for Oct. 1, would prohibit purchases of candy, prepared desserts and sugary drinks through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Next summer, […]
WASHINGTON — In a deal that could provide a major trade boost for American farmers, the White House said that during the recent summit, China committed to buying at least $17 billion in additional U.S. agricultural products annually for three years. But Beijing has not confirmed the figure and farm groups expressed skepticism that the […]
Most of the systems we rely on every day receive attention only when something breaks. We don’t talk about roads when traffic flows, or water systems when the tap turns on. These systems fade into the background because they work. But behind that reliability is something we rarely think about: careful, coordinated planning. Our electric […]
The Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a governor’s power to call lawmakers into a special session at any time, ending the last lawsuit intended to overturn the state’s newly gerrymandered congressional map without a statewide vote. In an unanimous decision issued just a few hours after oral arguments, the court held that the Missouri […]
In the heart of the Bible Belt, a small Methodist college graduated its final class in May 2024, shutting its doors after 168 years. Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama, was a Christian private liberal arts school that counted among its graduates members of Congress, famous musicians, Pulitzer Prize winners and the former executive editor of […]
In its latest effort to narrow pathways to immigration to the United States, the Trump administration says it will crack down on attorneys who file fraudulent asylum claims for their clients. The U.S. has long granted asylum to people who are unable or unwilling to return to their home countries because they have been persecuted, […]
WASHINGTON — A handful of Democratic state attorneys general said Tuesday that expert officials from their offices were denied access to a major White House anti-fraud meeting convened by Vice President JD Vance and attended by Republican AGs. Two dozen Democratic attorneys general had earlier declined invitations for their own attendance at the White House […]
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