For help, call 1-888-373-7888 or text *233733 for the 24/7 National Human Trafficking Hotline, a national, toll-free hotline. States are moving to strengthen protections against human trafficking, but some advocates warn that federal funding cuts could undermine efforts to support survivors. This year, lawmakers in several states have introduced bills to expand education, strengthen penalties […]
With only a week to go before the legislature adjourns for the year, Missouri lawmakers are considering a last-minute push for a $300 million incentive package aimed at building a new stadium for the Kansas City Royals in Clay County. The tentative plan, which according to those involved has the blessing of the governor’s office, […]
A bill that would help fund the installation of rescue boxes for parents in crisis to anonymously relinquish newborns to the state is headed to Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe. State Rep. Jim Murphy, a St. Louis Republican and the sponsor of the “Safe Place for Newborns Fund,” called his legislation “a pro-life bill that everybody […]
After a sharp, brief fight in which Democrats were outnumbered by majority Republicans, Missouri legislative budget negotiators agreed Thursday to spend $50 million to expand the MOScholars program that helps pay tuition at private and parochial schools. The general revenue support would be the first time state tax dollars have been appropriated directly to the […]
WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on a U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee panel Thursday slammed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for her handling of her agency’s funding and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Sen. Chris Murphy warned Noem that DHS is at risk of running out of its $65 billion in funding by July […]
WASHINGTON — The case of the missing Federal Bureau of Investigation budget request was on full display Thursday, when senators repeatedly asked the law enforcement agency’s director what resources he needed Congress to provide in the upcoming fiscal year. FBI Director Kash Patel did not disclose a dollar amount, an unusual development at a hearing […]
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has ousted the leader of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and replaced him with another official, States Newsroom has confirmed. Cam Hamilton, senior official performing the duties of the administrator at FEMA, was let go just one day after he testified before Congress about the size and scope of the […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House approved a measure Thursday that would codify part of President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” The bill — which was passed on a nearly party-line vote, 211-206 — calls on the head of each federal agency to “update each document and map of […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. House lawmakers on Wednesday began debating when the Federal Emergency Management Agency should provide state and local communities with help addressing natural disasters and when aid should be handled by others. The Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee’s hearing on FEMA’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year came just days after the Trump administration sent […]
Missouri’s public schools would be fully funded and a policy some blame for undermining a child care subsidy program would be fixed, legislative budget negotiators decided Wednesday night as they worked through eight of the 13 spending bills for state operations in the coming year. Over about three hours, the conference committees of five lawmakers […]
The Missouri Children’s Division has accomplished something most of us would have thought impossible: They got all sides in the debate over abortion to agree. They agree about Hailey, the young mother profiled in an outstanding story in The Independent. They agree that the behavior of the Children’s Division in surveilling, harassing, traumatizing and sometimes […]
WASHINGTON — A Democratic lawmaker is asking why House Republicans approved nearly six times the requested funding for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as President Donald Trump cancels federal grants for arts organizations across the United States. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine, the ranking member of the subcommittee that oversees funding […]
This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — Immigration attorneys are asking a Massachusetts federal judge for an emergency temporary restraining order to stop the Trump administration from removing their clients to Libya and Saudi Arabia as soon as Wednesday, in a major new development in President Donald Trump’s drive for mass deportations. “Multiple credible sources […]
WASHINGTON — The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday that potential major cuts and changes to Medicaid under consideration by Republicans could mean states would have to spend more of their own money on the program, reduce payments to health care providers, limit optional benefits and reduce enrollment. The end result, under some scenarios, could be […]
WASHINGTON — The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday that potential major cuts and changes to Medicaid under consideration by Republicans could mean states would have to spend more of their own money on the program, reduce payments to health care providers, limit optional benefits and reduce enrollment. The end result, under some scenarios, could be […]
Missouri House Republicans muscled their biggest tax-cut priority of the year across the finish line on Wednesday, sending a bill exempting capital gains from income tax to Gov. Mike Kehoe. No Democrats supported the bill, although 10 did vote “present” to show they supported provisions of the legislation other than the exemption on profits from […]
Local laws prohibiting landlords from discriminating against tenants who receive public assistance would be unenforceable under legislation sent to the governor’s desk Wednesday. The bill passed by a final vote of 23 to 10 on Wednesday in the Senate, over the opposition of Democrats. It previously passed the House 103 to 37. The legislation takes […]
One year after a federal judge ruled Missourians were being illegally denied food aid by the state, the Department of Social Services has made “no progress” in addressing the problem, the judge wrote in a scathing order this week. “The excessive call wait times and denials based on the failure to provide a reasonable opportunity […]
A faction of Missouri Senate Republicans held up a bill that sought to incentivize investment in child care Tuesday evening, arguing the chamber should instead move on to GOP priorities. The legislation, which would establish a tax-credit program at an estimated expense of nearly $70 million annually, was part of negotiations on a separate bill […]
The fallout from the failed contract negotiations between University of Missouri Health Care and Anthem is rippling far beyond Columbia — reaching counties more than 100 miles away. As of April 1, more than 90,000 MU Health Care patients were left out of network after the two sides were unable to reach an agreement. MU […]
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