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Employers grappling with a nationwide labor shortage gave low-wage workers the largest pay increases in most states between 2019 and last year. But even so, many of those workers — more than 40% of all U.S. households, by one estimate — are struggling to cover the inflated costs of basic expenses. In the past several […]

The post Despite pandemic pay boost, low-wage workers still can’t afford basic needs appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The headquarters of the Herzog Foundation sits on the edge of Smithville, in an 18,000-square-foot stone and glass building on a corner lot across the street from a cornfield on a gravel-lined highway. Few Missouians have likely heard of the Stanley M. Herzog Charitable Foundation, or the organization’s namesake. But the unassuming locale masks what […]

The post Nonprofit near Kansas City seeks to become ‘epicenter of the school-choice movement’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday signed the tax cut he said a week earlier was responsible for his decision to veto most of the 201 spending items he cut from the state budget. The bill, exempting Social Security benefits and public pension payments from income tax, would reduce state general revenue by an estimated $309 […]

The post Missouri will exempt Social Security, public pension payments from state income taxes appeared first on Missouri Independent.

  WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced new initiatives Friday that could reduce health care costs, though none will take effect immediately. The changes include a proposed rule that would reduce the amount of time short-term health insurance plans can last and require companies that offer the plans to be more transparent about what is covered […]

The post Biden administration to crack down on ‘junk’ health insurance plans, surprise billing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s marijuana businesses will have fewer obstacles when it comes to accessing banking, but they must now get fingerprint background checks from all their new employees and contractors, under legislation that the governor signed on Thursday. Few banks nationwide serve cannabis businesses and their owners — or even their auxiliary partners  — because most want […]

The post Missouri governor signs bills impacting cannabis banking, employee background checks appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Supporters of student loan debt cancellation are organizing to hold GOP lawmakers “accountable” in the 2024 election cycle following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling blocking President Joe Biden’s debt relief plan. The left-leaning Protect Borrowers Action will target 13 U.S. House districts across California, Colorado, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Oregon and Pennsylvania where […]

The post Vulnerable U.S. House Republicans who opposed student debt plan targeted in 2024 appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Postpartum Medicaid coverage will expand from 60 days to one year under legislation signed into law Thursday evening by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.  Missouri had the 12th-highest maternal mortality in the nation from 2018 to 2020, and three-quarters of pregnancy-related deaths in the state — or roughly 138 people — were preventable, the Missouri Pregnancy […]

The post Governor signs bill extending postpartum coverage under Missouri Medicaid appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The state shouldn’t be responsible for paying people released after their convictions have been overturned, Gov. Mike Parson wrote explaining his veto of a bill that expands who is eligible for compensation for being wrongly imprisoned. Under current law, only someone shown to be innocent by means of a DNA test is eligible for compensation […]

The post Effort to boost payment for wrongly convicted vetoed by Missouri governor appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reducing funding to states for child vaccination programs, according to an agency email obtained by KFF Health News. The funding cut “is a significant change to your budget,” said the email to immunization managers, dated June 27 and signed by two CDC officials. The immunization managers who […]

The post CDC to reduce funding for states’ child vaccination programs appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When shots ring out on the South and West sides of Chicago, Sam Castro and his team at the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago race to the scene of the shooting and to the hospital where emergency responders are treating the gunshot victim. Knowing most of the city’s gun violence is caused by a small cluster […]

The post Cities have ways to curb gun violence; feds are giving them more money appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s budget vetoes weren’t necessary to protect state finances and could lead to overrides when lawmakers meet in September, Republican legislative budget leaders said Wednesday. While overrides, both for budget items and other legislation, became common when Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon was in office, a governor has only been overridden twice in […]

The post GOP legislative leaders won’t rule out overriding Missouri governor budget vetoes appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Millions of Americans have already been sweltering through heat waves this summer, and forecasters warn of hot months ahead. July 3 and 4, 2023, were two of the hottest days, and possibly the hottest, on satellite record globally. For people who struggle to afford air conditioning, the rising need for cooling is a growing crisis. […]

The post A power disconnection crisis: In 31 states, utilities can shut off electricity in a heat wave appeared first on Missouri Independent.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — For years, Charlene Redrick worked double shifts to make sure she made rent each month. The 64-year-old nursing home aide always paid on time — even at the height of the pandemic. But in 2022, Redrick’s landlord moved to evict her from the three-bedroom apartment she shared with her granddaughter and infant […]

The post Some states to landlords: You can’t evict tenants without a good reason appeared first on Missouri Independent.

States that have tried to enroll more Black and Hispanic students in universities without using race-based admissions policies have seen the numbers of those students slip — especially at elite institutions. Nine states had affirmative action bans before last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking it down nationwide. Those states and others have tried various […]

The post Campus diversity will be a struggle without race-based admissions, history shows appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A study from the University of Washington released Monday shows maternal mortality rates more than doubled in some states between 1999 and 2019, with sharp increases for some racial and ethnic groups. Researchers touted it as the first study to provide such maternal mortality calculations for every state. Previous reports have not included rates for states with […]

The post Study shows sharp increases in maternal deaths over two decades appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For two years, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has pushed unsuccessfully to allow government agencies to withhold more information from the public and charge more for any records that are turned over. And according to a 2021 memo obtained by The Independent, one of the architects of Parson’s plan to weaken government transparency laws was Andrew […]

The post Memo shows Missouri AG helped craft governor’s plan to weaken open records laws appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A proposal to help working Missourians with disabilities access affordable health care is among the bills now awaiting action by Gov. Mike Parson. The legislature this year approved a pair of bills that include tweaks to eligibility for the Ticket to Work Health Assurance Program, which provides health insurance through Medicaid to employed adults with […]

The post Push to help Missourians with disabilities avoid Medicaid loss awaits governor’s action appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As we celebrate the nation’s 247th birthday amid what appears to be intransigent partisan political divides on many fronts, it seems a good time to ponder what patriotism and nationalism means in America today. Are you feeling patriotic or nationalistic as we pause to celebrate this Fourth of July? Which? And if neither, why not? […]

The post What does being a patriot or nationalist mean to you? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Thousands of miles of carbon dioxide pipelines planned in the Midwest have been spurred, in part, by a major expansion of federal tax credits in Democrats’ 2022 climate law. That could lead to billions of dollars per year in federal tax credits benefiting the powerful Midwest ethanol industry, even as the proposals create intense conflicts between […]

The post Thanks to federal tax credits, it’s boom time in the Midwest for carbon dioxide pipelines appeared first on Missouri Independent.

About five years ago, most of Minneapolis’ Subway, Little Caesars and McDonald’s franchise restaurants did not comply with city wage standards. Now workers at each of the locations that violated the law receive the required minimum wage and time off when they’re sick. This is all thanks to a co-enforcement program, where the city’s labor […]

The post States, cities turn to community organizations to battle wage theft appeared first on Missouri Independent.