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US Senate GOP rolls out health care plan that fails to extend premium subsidies

1 month ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans announced Tuesday they will hold a vote on their own health care proposal later this week to counter a Democratic bill that would extend enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans for three more years. The 32-page GOP bill would not address the expiring ACA marketplace tax credits but […]
Jennifer Shutt

Trump administration aims to officially scrap Biden-era student loan forgiveness program

1 month ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education announced a proposed agreement Tuesday that would permanently axe an income-driven student loan repayment plan in which more than 7 million student loan borrowers are enrolled.  Under a joint proposal with seven Republican-led states that challenged the program, the department would not enroll any new borrowers in the Saving […]
Shauneen Miranda

Public school open enrollment wins tentative support from Missouri education board

1 month ago
The Missouri State Board of Education approved legislative priorities Tuesday that signal support for “legislation on voluntary public school open enrollment.”  What this means, though, is unclear. Board members during a Tuesday morning meeting expressed differing opinions on open enrollment,  a policy that broadly speaking would allow students to enroll in neighboring school districts. After […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Leaders of 2 major anti-abortion groups call for Trump’s FDA chief to be fired

1 month ago
WASHINGTON — Two of the country’s largest anti-abortion organizations want President Donald Trump to fire U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary over access to medication abortion.  Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, expressed frustration Tuesday that the FDA hasn’t completed a review of the prescription drug mifepristone. “The FDA needs […]
Jennifer Shutt

Missouri set to enact gerrymandered map despite 300K signatures for repeal referendum

1 month ago
The campaign to repeal Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map turned in 300,000 signatures Tuesday to put it on the 2026 ballot. But Secretary of State Denny Hoskins says that won’t stop the map from going into effect on Thursday. Hoskins also argued he has the power to unilaterally declare the referendum unconstitutional if it is determined […]
Rudi Keller, Jason Hancock

Voting by mail faces uncertain moment ahead of midterm elections

1 month ago
Derrin Robinson has worked in Oregon elections for more than 30 years, long enough to remember when voters in the state cast their ballots at physical polling sites instead of by mail. As the nonpartisan clerk of Harney County, a vast, rural expanse larger than Massachusetts, Robinson oversees elections with about 6,000 registered voters. Oregon […]
Jonathan Shorman

Hospital-at-home program extended by US House, awaits Senate consideration

1 month ago
A popular program allowing Medicare patients to get hospital care at home would be extended until 2030 under a bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and awaiting consideration by the Senate.  The bill was passed by the House on Dec. 1 and referred to a Senate committee the next day. The federal government […]
Tim Henderson

Trump to send $12 billion in one-time payments to farmers to offset ag losses

1 month ago
The federal government will provide $12 billion to U.S. farmers who have been hurt by “unfair market disruption,” President Donald Trump said at a White House roundtable event Monday. Trump said repeatedly the funding was available thanks to tariff revenues, framing his aggressive trade policy as a boon to farmers rather than a drag on […]
Jacob Fischler

Federal judge rejects Missouri AG’s push to block referendum on gerrymandered map

1 month 1 week ago
A federal judge Monday refused to back Missouri’s Republican leaders efforts to block a statewide vote on a gerrymandered congressional district map, dismissing a case filed by Attorney General Catherine Hanaway. U.S. District Judge Zachary Bluestone ruled he had no jurisdiction over the lawsuit brought on behalf of Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and the […]
Rudi Keller

US Supreme Court seems ready to back Trump in case of fired FTC commissioner

1 month 1 week ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court appeared ready to expand presidential power after hearing a case Monday on whether President Donald Trump can hire and fire members of independent federal agencies without cause. The high court’s decision, expected by the end of the term in late June, could heighten presidential influence over agencies created by […]
Ashley Murray

With homelessness rising, new federal rules could benefit states that take tougher approaches

1 month 1 week ago
As the housing shortage pushes more Americans into homelessness for the first time, the Trump administration wants to focus federal housing aid on mental health treatment and enforcement against street homelessness, rather than on finding people permanent homes as quickly as possible. The administration’s new plan to tie federal housing aid to work requirements and […]
Robbie Sequeira

New student loan rule could dissuade people from advanced nursing degrees

1 month 1 week ago
Zoe Clarke became a hospital registered nurse two and a half years ago, following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother. Clarke, an ICU nurse in Asheville, North Carolina, wants to get her master’s degree to become a nurse practitioner or a certified registered nurse anesthetist — occupations in high demand — and eventually work […]
Nada Hassanein

Christian sober living homes expand in rural Missouri largely without state oversight, funding

1 month 1 week ago
Jerry Chiasson had been living under a bridge in Gainesville, fighting larceny charges and trying to get clean.  Biking from Springfield to Mountain Home, Arkansas, where he’d planned to stay with a friend, Chiasson, 52, was pulled over and arrested on a warrant for a stolen car — charges that were eventually dropped. While fighting […]
Steph Quinn