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School leaders are feeling the toll of the teacher shortage, and it’s evident with every school site visit and conversation with a teacher that students are feeling that stress, too. Compared to the previous five years, Missouri teacher retention was at its lowest in the 2021-22 school year. with the greatest rates of teachers leaving […]

The post Retaining teachers is the best gift we can give Missouri kids this year appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress left the Capitol on Thursday without a deal on sought-after changes to immigration policy that’s tied to aid for Ukraine and Israel — leaving them just one week to resolve the dispute before lawmakers depart for a three-week holiday break. Negotiations among a small group of senators are expected to […]

The post With time growing short, U.S. Senate talks extend on immigration overhaul appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In December 2017, following years of complaints about high costs and political influence in Missouri’s low-income housing tax credit program, then-Gov. Eric Greitens engineered a vote that shut it down. It took Greitens’ resignation due to an unrelated scandal and nearly three years for the state tax credit program to be restarted. It now has […]

The post Campaign cash continues to flow from Missouri low-income housing tax credit industry appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey alleged in a counterclaim filed Thursday that the federal government may be involved in Washington University’s refusal to give his office access to patient records.  Bailey’s request for records is part of an investigation into the university’s Transgender Center. The counterclaim points to a perceived change in the university’s requests […]

The post Missouri AG alleges federal involvement in Washington University investigation appeared first on Missouri Independent.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley said Thursday he would do everything he could to stop a federal defense spending bill after a provision offering compensation to Americans exposed to decades-old radioactive waste was removed.  Speaking on the floor of the Senate, the Missouri Republican called the decision to remove compensation for Americans who have suffered rare […]

The post Compensation for St. Louis victims of nuclear waste stripped from federal defense bill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that would make it easier for tribal nations to access and invest federal funding on their own terms. “It’s hard work to heal the wrongs of the past and change the course and move forward,” Biden said. “But the actions we are taking today are key steps […]

The post Biden meets with leaders of tribal nations, signs order easing access to federal funds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

An investigation into alleged misconduct by Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher remains ongoing, as a panel of state lawmakers emerged from a nearly three hour behind-closed-doors hearing on Wednesday and gave no indication of when the inquiry will conclude.  The investigation of Plocher could stretch into the next legislative session, which begins on Jan. 3. […]

The post Ethics investigation into Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher continues appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate failed to move forward Wednesday with a $111 billion spending package that would have bolstered aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the Southern border amid deep disagreement about immigration policy. The 49-51 procedural vote, which needed at least 60 senators to advance the bill toward final passage, represents a significant […]

The post Divided over immigration, U.S. Senate blocks advancing aid for Ukraine, Israel appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The chair of the House Oversight Committee is calling on a government watchdog to investigate any “political interference” in the site selection process for the new FBI headquarters. In addition, as House Republicans step up their interest in the growing dispute between Maryland and Virginia over where the headquarters should be moved from […]

The post U.S. House Oversight leader demands probe into ‘political interference’ in FBI HQ move appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The success of the U.S. Senate in passing a $106 billion global security supplemental aid package hinges on a bipartisan agreement about U.S. border security, but any deal was at an impasse Tuesday. “There will not be a national security bill unless and until there is serious and significant changes in security at […]

The post Border talks stuck as Senate nears vote on package for Israel, Ukraine aid appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This summer, Airbnb sued New York City over its short-term rental rules. But a judge dismissed the case, and New York’s crackdown on short-term rentals was big news in the fall. While a metropolis like New York might make for a nice headline, arguably less noteworthy places like U.S. college towns are also trudging their […]

The post Airbnb owners want to make a profit. College towns try to rein them in appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan measure that would require screening of U.S. private investments in high-tech enterprises in China, Iran, North Korea and Russia may not be included in Congress’ annual defense policy legislation. The Senate approved the so-called “outbound investment” amendment, 91-6, to its version of the National Defense Authorization Act in July, with proponents arguing it was needed […]

The post Senators review of U.S. investments in China but hit roadblock in House appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court stripped federal oversight from millions of acres of wetlands long protected under the Clean Water Act. Now, any safeguards to ensure those waters are not polluted, drained or filled in by development fall to the states. They’re finding that it’s not easy. “States and tribes already didn’t have […]

The post After Clean Water Act ruling, states that want to protect affected wetlands need millions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

State Sen. Karla Eslinger will be Missouri’s next commissioner of education beginning in June, the State Board of Education announced during its meeting Tuesday. Board President Charlie Shields told reporters Eslinger was the only candidate the board considered. The board has met in closed session twice since the last public meeting — in which current […]

The post Karla Eslinger announced as Missouri’s next commissioner of education appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Pulling off a successful ballot initiative campaign in Missouri is an undertaking so difficult that one Democratic political consultant compares it to skiing the slalom at the Olympics.  There is a laundry list of deadlines to meet, an army of signature gatherers to hire, a host of legal battles to fight — all with a […]

The post Missouri abortion-rights amendments face ‘torturous’ process to make it to 2024 ballot appeared first on Missouri Independent.

If the five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, Americans can be found at all points along the continuum when it comes to global climate change and the environmental crisis that accompanies it. Like many who’ve contemplated a grim healthcare diagnosis that seems to belie of how they feel in the moment, millions […]

The post Climate grief and the stark choice that confronts us appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation are leading a bipartisan effort to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency recruited the Hmong people as soldiers to help combat communism’s spread through Southeast Asia. The Hmong, who lived and worked as […]

The post Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War would receive Congressional Gold Medal under push by lawmakers appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Andy Gipson gets concerned even when American allies such as the Netherlands and Germany invest in large swaths of Mississippi’s farmland. “It just bothers me at a gut level,” he said. For Gipson, Mississippi’s commissioner of agriculture and commerce, the growing trend of foreign ownership could threaten what he views as the state’s most valuable […]

The post This land is our land: States crack down on foreign-owned farm fields appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — As Congress negotiates the White House’s $106 billion supplemental aid request for Israel, Ukraine and U.S. border security, fights over immigration policy have tied up the request. The White House sent its proposal that includes nearly $14 billion in supplemental border security funding to Congress in late October, but it will likely look different after going through […]

The post Congress is haggling over border security: Where does it stand? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The first day was a breeze.  Sean Shannon and Danny Foster walked into several marijuana dispensaries around Missouri with their matching “Union For Cannabis Workers” shirts and talked to employees about the possibility of unionizing. “The first day, there were 57 stops amongst the teams,” said Shannon, lead organizer with UFCW Local 655, which actually […]

The post Cannabis workers across Missouri begin push to unionize dispensaries  appeared first on Missouri Independent.