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In the late 1970s, inflation pushed wages into higher tax brackets and squeezed homeowners as property tax bills rose with the value of their residences. A southwest Missouri businessman named Mel Hancock, inspired by the California tax limitation ballot measure known as Proposition 13, enlisted the Missouri Farm Bureau and put his own plan for […]

The post After four decades, Hancock Amendment continues to shape Missouri tax policy appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in a Thursday hearing grilled the top leader of federal prisons on how the agency would address staffing shortages and reports of abuse of incarcerated people. “The Bureau (of Prisons) has been riddled with mismanagement and, sadly, with scandal,” said the chair of the committee, Illinois […]

The post Federal prisons ‘riddled with mismanagement’ probed by U.S. Senate panel appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The eldest grandson of President Harry Truman pulled down a black cloak to unveil a towering bronze statue of his late grandfather during a Thursday ceremony at the U.S. Capitol to dedicate the sculpture honoring the 33rd president. “My grandfather was a modest man,” Clifton Truman Daniel said. “And, frankly, slightly embarrassed by […]

The post Statue of Missouri’s Harry Truman dedicated at the U.S. Capitol appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri House on Thursday abandoned its attempt to cut corporate income taxes after Gov. Mike Parson signaled his opposition to the move. Instead, House Republican leaders put a Senate-passed tax cut plan up for a vote, but not before one Democrat called “shenanigans” because the move blocked plans to offer amendments. By a 98-32 […]

The post Legislature sends $764 million income tax cut to Missouri governor appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Massachusetts has become the latest state to settle with health insurance giant Centene Corp. over allegations that it overbilled the state’s Medicaid program for pharmacy services, KHN has learned. St. Louis-based Centene, the nation’s largest Medicaid managed-care insurer, will pay $14.2 million, according to Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. An official announcement is expected later […]

The post Centene agrees to pay Massachusetts $14 million over Medicaid prescription claims appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Eighteenth-century French diplomat Joseph de Maistre famously articulated, “In a democracy, people get the leaders they deserve.” In light of The New York Times’ recent coverage and Business Insider’s ongoing “Conflicted Congress” investigation into violations of 2012’s STOCK Act, electing better leaders can start with requiring greater financial transparency to quickly reveal potential conflicts of […]

The post Electing better leaders can start with requiring greater financial transparency appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators from both parties said Wednesday they hope to negotiate an energy permitting reform bill yet this year, reviving efforts to streamline the process after West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III had to pull back his plan amid broad opposition. The Manchin proposal was attached to a must-pass government funding bill […]

The post Manchin seeks bipartisan ‘sweet spot’ for a new try at his energy permitting bill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri House will debate a tax cut bill Thursday that goes far beyond the special session agenda set by Gov. Mike Parson after the Budget Committee on Wednesday added an amendment repealing the corporate income tax to a Senate-passed measure. The committee approved the legislation, which has a total cost approaching $2 billion, on […]

The post Cost of tax cut swells as Missouri House committee seeks to eliminate corporate tax appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A bipartisan chorus of Missouri lawmakers joined together on Twitter Wednesday to call for Agape Boarding School to be shut down.

The post Bipartisan group of Missouri lawmakers demand Agape Boarding School be shut down appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A species of tick known to cause severe weight loss in cattle has been discovered in northern Missouri, researchers from the University of Missouri reported this week.  The longhorned tick was found in southern Missouri last year, according to a press release from the university. But Rosalie Ierardi, an anatomic pathologist at the MU College […]

The post Longhorned tick that can cause illness to cattle found in northern Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee on Tuesday passed legislation that would update an 1887 elections law and clarify how electoral votes are certified, with the hopes of averting another attempt to overturn a presidential election. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat and Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, put forth the bill, S. 4573, known […]

The post Key U.S. Senate panel advances bill aimed at preventing another Jan. 6 appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate advanced a catchall spending package Tuesday that would provide billions to aid Ukraine’s war effort, help communities throughout the country recover from natural disasters and keep the federal government funded through mid-December. Democrats and Republicans voted 72-23 to move the measure toward a final vote later this week — a […]

The post Stopgap spending bill advances in U.S. Senate after Manchin pulls his energy plan appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A nearly 50-year-old federal law backed by Republicans allows the use of federal dollars for abortions in cases of rape, incest or to save a patient’s life. That so-called Hyde Amendment, which is folded into spending bills, is less stringent than new or planned abortion bans in some GOP-led states, where governors and […]

The post Republicans in Congress say they’d keep federal abortion funding in cases of rape, incest appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Congress is on track to approve billions in funding this week to help offset rising home heating and cooling costs as well as boost aid for communities recovering from natural disasters. The package, unveiled overnight, would provide $2.5 billion in assistance for the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire that scorched much of New Mexico […]

The post Billions for natural disasters, home energy included in stopgap spending bill in Congress appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A trial on the state’s restricted Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood will be delayed until December, after the reproductive health care provider was given permission Tuesday to drop five counts in its lawsuit against the Missouri Department of Social Services. Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem Tuesday granted Planned Parenthood’s motion to amend its […]

The post Trial on Missouri’s restricted Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood pushed back appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Hoping to bring awareness to the need to combat hunger, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson officially declared September “Hunger Action Month” — lighting the state Capitol and governor’s mansion in orange to encourage involvement in efforts to end hunger in local communities. “When people think of hunger and food insecurity, they may often think of people […]

The post Missouri governor’s symbolic action on hunger lights up Democrats appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This commentary was originally published by Investigate Midwest. Anybody who has kept an eye on agricultural doings knows that consolidation is occurring at an alarming rate. In the past couple of decades, competition between agricultural giants has become a fading memory. Even this short list is staggering: China’s WH Group purchased Smithfield Foods – the largest producer […]

The post Foreign investors are snapping up U.S. land. But exactly how much, who knows? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Nye County, a rural enclave in Nevada, has positioned itself as the epicenter of a Donald Trump-fueled conspiracy about the security of electronic vote tabulators. The Nye County Commission voted in March to make the county one of the first to act on the false narratives that machines that count votes are rigged. County Clerk Mark Kampf, […]

The post A conspiracy-fueled push to count ballots by hand gains traction appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Passing a package of tax credits for rural economic projects should have been the easy part of Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s special session agenda. A bill with everything he requested passed with big bipartisan majorities during the regular session, the only opposition coming from conservative Republicans who dislike tax credits generally. But when the bill […]

The post Missouri House leaders scramble to save the governor’s agriculture incentives bill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s highest ranking legislator is asking federal prosecutors to intervene and shut down Agape Boarding School, alleging “undeniable corruption” and “inaction” by local officials who he says “could do the right thing and have consistently chosen not to.” House Speaker Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, made his request last Wednesday in a letter to Teresa Moore, United […]

The post Top Missouri lawmaker urges federal prosecutors to intervene in Agape abuse case appeared first on Missouri Independent.