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Lone Jack Police Chief Tim Cosner was confused.  His state senator, Mike Cierpiot, was on the line asking him about a request to fund radio equipment in the state budget. He needed details, Cierpiot told Cosner, in order to pass them along to Senate Appropriations Chairman Lincoln Hough. Cosner had no clue what Cierpiot was […]

The post Lawmakers pack Missouri budget with earmarks for local agencies, building projects appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Linda, Pat and their 15-year-old son Alex describe themselves as refugees of Missouri. Alex, which is a pseudonym to protect his privacy, is transgender. He’s lived his entire life in Missouri, and though his family imagined him leaving state for college, they truly believed Missouri would always be home.  It wasn’t until March, when Democrats […]

The post ‘There’s no point in staying’: Transgender Missourians describe toll of legislative session appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Thirty-five states, including Missouri, have fewer children than they did five years ago, a situation caused by declining birth rates nationwide, but also by young families migrating across state borders in search of cheaper housing. Even in the 15 states that gained children, all but North Dakota experienced greater growth in the adult population, meaning […]

The post Low fertility rates, high housing prices mean fewer children in most states appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After two years of drama and gridlock, the Missouri Senate showed up in January determined to put the conflict between the conservative caucus and GOP leadership in the past.  Submerged but ever-lurking, factionalism finally torpedoed the apparent comity in the session’s final week, and the Senate sank into the depths of filibusters and procedural hijinks. […]

The post Winners and losers of Missouri’s 2023 legislative session appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The deadliest outbreak of bird flu in U.S. history is prompting growing concern in Congress, and Department of Agriculture researchers are awaiting the preliminary results of four trials of vaccines for poultry. Some lawmakers are warming to the idea of a vaccination campaign, long considered a fringe idea due to the cost and […]

The post The U.S. is undergoing its worst bird flu outbreak ever. Is a poultry vaccine the answer? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For Mother’s Day this year, I don’t want chocolate or jewelry.  For Mother’s Day this year, I want us to finally focus on making this country a better, safer place for mothers. We’re coming up on the first Mother’s Day since a variety of draconian restrictions on abortion access have gone into place, which means […]

The post On Mother’s Day, keep your cards. Invest in moms appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s marijuana businesses would have fewer obstacles when it comes to accessing banking, under legislation approved Thursday. Few banks nationwide serve cannabis businesses and their owners — or even their auxiliary partners  — because most want nothing to do with a business that sells a product the federal government still considers illegal. That’s true even […]

The post Missouri marijuana businesses improve access to banks under bill heading to governor appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Senate held itself together longer than most had expected.  But on Friday, hours before the constitutionally mandated adjournment, it went off the rails.  Sen. Bill Eigel, a Weldon Spring Republican running for governor next year, attempted a procedural move to force a vote on personal property tax cut legislation.  Instead, the chamber voted […]

The post Missouri Senate dysfunction leads to gridlock on final day of 2023 legislative session appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A no-interest loan to a southeast Missouri aluminum company that was included in the state’s budget could run afoul of a Civil War-era restriction on using state funds or credit to aid a private enterprise. The loan, $8.5 million for 10 years, is among about 275 earmarked spending items sprinkled throughout the $50.7 billion state […]

The post Loan to aluminum smelter in Missouri Bootheel raises constitutional question appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Allison Kite, a data reporter covering agriculture and the environment for The Missouri Independent and Kansas Reflector, has been selected to receive the 2023 William E. James Outstanding Young Journalist Award from the Missouri Press Association. The award recognizes reporters who have demonstrated excellence in the field of journalism and maintained the quality, ethics and […]

The post Missouri Independent reporter wins ‘Outstanding Young Journalist’ award appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Thursday pushed through a border security package that mirrors Trump-era immigration policies, aiming criticism at the Biden administration for ending a pandemic-era public health measure used to expel millions of migrants from the country. The House passed the measure in a 219-213 vote. Only two Republicans voted in opposition, Reps. […]

The post U.S. House passes bill to reinstate Trump-era immigration policies appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The public health emergency declaration ended on Thursday, and with it some of the policies that helped the U.S. recover from the many of the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Although COVID-19 is still a public health threat, the national economic crisis it created has subsided with the U.S. economy back to its pre-pandemic growth rate. Economists say […]

The post Fast federal response to pandemic key to US economic recovery, economists say appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Power Plan — intended to cut carbon emissions from power plants — was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Trump administration’s much-criticized replacement, the Affordable Clean Energy rule, derided as a “tortured series of misreadings” of the U.S. Clean Air Act, was also tossed by a federal court. But the Biden […]

The post EPA again proposes power plant carbon rules appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Republican lawmaker running for governor next year held up all action in the Missouri Senate Thursday night, arguing one of his top legislative priorities was being held hostage in negotiations over legalizing sports wagering.  Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, spent much of the evening reading aloud from a biography of Ronald Reagan and from […]

The post Sports wagering impasse upends the Missouri Senate a day before adjournment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Everyone working in Missouri’s cannabis industry would be required to submit to a fingerprint background check under legislation approved Thursday. Under the constitutional amendment that voters passed in November to legalize recreational marijuana, only the owners of cannabis companies are required to submit their fingerprints to the Missouri Highway Patrol for a criminal background check. […]

The post Missouri legislators vote to require fingerprint background checks for cannabis employees appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — After more than three years and 1.1 million deaths, the United States on Thursday will end the public health emergency for COVID-19 — and Congress is attempting to better prepare for a possible resurgence of that virus or another. The expiration of the designation, originally put in place in January 2020, means alterations to how […]

The post As the COVID public health emergency ends, prepping for a new pandemic is next appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Dyvia Huitron started having sex when she was 16. Worried about getting pregnant, she talked to her parents about getting on hormonal birth control. Instead, they grounded her. The now-19-year-old had expected pushback – she was living in a religious community in conservative McAllen, Texas. But she underestimated how many years it would eventually take […]

The post Health experts urge FDA to approve over-the-counter birth control in unanimous vote appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Four years ago, a viral video showed two Kansas City police officers slamming a Black transgender woman, Brianna BB Hill, onto the sidewalk, kneeling on her in the face, torso and ribs and forcing her cuffed hands above her head. In the time since, the officers pleaded guilty to third-degree assault. And Hill was shot […]

The post Trans women of color and the Kansas City Police Department’s rocky, violent history appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans have requested more than $10 billion in earmarks to be included in next year’s appropriations bills, despite demanding massive spending cuts as a contingent for raising the nation’s debt ceiling. All but a handful of House Republicans barely pushed through a bill that would temporarily raise the U.S. borrowing limit, but […]

The post U.S. House GOP wants spending cuts — and also $10B in home-state earmarks appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Senate remained bogged down in GOP infighting Wednesday night, with conservatives for the third day in a row blocking or slowing legislative action while time ticked down towards Friday adjournment.  Leading the effort was Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, who spent much of Wednesday blocking an uncontroversial hemp bill by reading an anti-vaccine […]

The post Gridlock plagues Missouri Senate once again with just days to go before adjournment appeared first on Missouri Independent.