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Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation Tuesday that boosts the minimum salary for teachers, changes the formula for funding public schools and expands a tax-credit scholarship for private schools. It also allows charter schools in Boone County and requires a public vote for districts seeking to go to a four-day school week. When fully implemented, […]

The post Missouri governor signs $468M education bill that boosts teacher pay, expands charters appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Meatpacking sludge storage lagoons that have drawn the ire of rural neighbors because of their foul stench would face stricter state regulations under legislation that passed the Missouri Senate Tuesday.  Senators voted 30-1 to require the facilities to obtain water pollution permits, be set back from nearby homes, follow certain design requirements and monitor groundwater […]

The post Missouri bill protecting rural neighbors from meatpacking sludge nears passage appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin on Tuesday filed a lawsuit with five other states, including Missouri, against the U.S. Department of Education’s change to Title IX that codifies protections for LGBTQ students. The federal rule, announced in April, protects students and employees from sex-based discrimination, requires schools to offer support for people who make complaints, […]

The post Missouri joins five other states in federal lawsuit over Title IX transgender protections appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden warned Tuesday of rising antisemitism in the U.S. and said too many are forgetting the attack on Israel in October. During a Holocaust memorial speech at the U.S. Capitol, Biden stressed the importance of honoring the 6 million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust, and the victims of Hamas’ […]

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If Kansas City had its way, the local minimum wage would run $17 per hour, grocery stores would only use paper bags and you’d need to pass a background check to buy a gun in town. But politicians and businesses that see these policy ideas as threats to their authority or their bottom lines, shut […]

The post The Missouri legislature is cutting local governments’ power to pass their own laws appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Black homeowners’ property values are on the rise across the country, with some of the biggest upswings in Midwestern and Southern states. The boon to Black homeowners, after decades of lagging property values, could help them close a racial wealth gap that has kept the American dream out of reach. Home values increased on average […]

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WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene plan to meet privately Tuesday amid her calls for him to resign or face a floor vote that could, but likely won’t, remove the Louisiana Republican from leadership. Greene announced the meeting Monday evening after she and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie met […]

The post Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene huddles with U.S. House speaker she’s trying to oust appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Any talk of changes to how the Missouri House functions following allegations of staff intimidation during the investigation of Speaker Dean Plocher will have to wait until after the legislative session ends on May 17, Majority Leader Jon Patterson said Monday.  Patterson, a Lee’s Summit Republican expected to take over as speaker next year when […]

The post House leader says discussion of alleged staff intimidation will wait for session’s end appeared first on Missouri Independent.

It took about 10 minutes Monday for the Missouri Senate to devolve into chaos. Members came to the floor for the first time since they adjourned about 4 a.m. Thursday at the end of a 41-hour filibuster by members of the Missouri Freedom Caucus. As soon as the daily preliminaries of a prayer and other […]

The post Missouri Senate stalls out quickly on return after 41-hour filibuster appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Gov. Mike Parson on Monday signed legislation designed to keep a landfill from moving into south Kansas City, ending a more than year-long effort by nearby communities to stymie the project. In a news release, Parson called the legislation “a win for property rights across the state of Missouri.”  “This commonsense measure will ensure homeowners […]

The post Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signs bill to kill south Kansas City landfill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Republican 19th Senatorial District Committee met Sunday evening in Columbia to decide on a replacement candidate for the Boone County Senate seat. The only problem is that they don’t have one. “We’re working with some people behind the scenes on this but some of them need a little bit more convincing,” said Anthony Lupo, […]

The post Boone County GOP worried about finding candidate for Senate seat appeared first on Missouri Independent.

State Sen. Norm Needleman championed the 2021 legislation designed to lure major data centers to Connecticut. The Democratic lawmaker hoped to better compete with nearby states, bring in a growing industry, and provide paychecks for workers tasked with building the sprawling server farms. But this legislative session, he’s wondering if those tax breaks are appropriate […]

The post States rethink data centers as ‘electricity hogs’ strain the grid appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A proposal to allow a new casino near the Lake of the Ozarks on Sunday was the final initiative petition submitted for a possible slot on Missouri’s ballot later this year. The Osage River Gaming & Convention committee said in a news release that it turned in over 320,000 signatures in an effort to meet […]

The post Backers of a new Missouri casino near the Lake of the Ozarks submit signatures seeking ballot slot appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The end of a 41-hour filibuster early Thursday was a cease-fire in the Missouri Senate’s Republican civil war, not a peace settlement. But the only place it applies is in the chamber itself. Outside, on social media and conservative talk radio, the barrage continues. The Missouri Freedom Caucus surrendered the floor under threat of being […]

The post Friday budget deadline tests Republican factional fractures in Missouri Senate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

By our vote — or failure to vote — six months from today, we will have selected the next president of the United States. Will we have selected the person who could represent the best of America? Whether we are ready or not, the presidential campaign is in full swing. We have time to evaluate […]

The post America’s number one role model should be our president appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — States and local organizations that aid victims of sexual assault and other crimes are raising the alarm about a multi-year plunge in funds, a major problem they say Congress must fix soon or programs will be forced to set up wait lists or turn victims away altogether. Affected are rape crisis centers, domestic […]

The post Plummeting balance in federal crime victims fund sparks alarm among states, advocates appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A new political party will appear on Missouri’s ballot this year, the brainchild of a candidate hoping to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley in November. Jared Young, an attorney and businessman from Webb City, last year announced he would run as an independent candidate in the Senate race. In April, he decided to instead […]

The post Petition drive succeeds in placing new party on Missouri’s November ballot appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A judge in St. Louis ruled Thursday that local municipalities can stack sales taxes on marijuana dispensaries, the first court ruling on a much-debated issue playing out around the state.  The lawsuit was filed by Robust Missouri 3 LLC. The company saw its Florissant dispensary’s tax rate on cannabis products rise to 14.988% after both […]

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A campaign to enshrine abortion rights in Missouri’s constitution said Friday that it collected more than 380,000 signatures in just three months, more than twice the likely total needed to qualify for this year’s statewide ballot.  The coalition, called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, is hoping to put on the November ballot a measure that would […]

The post More than 380,000 Missourians sign initiative petition to put abortion on the ballot appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will publish a final rule Friday that will allow about 100,000 uninsured people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to enroll in state-run or private health insurance plans provided under the Affordable Care Act, administration officials said. The new rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human […]

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