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Federal officials last month approved a plan to help Missouri deal with “ongoing and persistent” delays in processing Medicaid applications that have left the state out of compliance with federal standards for nearly a year. Longtime observers of the state’s Medicaid program say the decision by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to intervene is […]

The post Federal government steps in to help pull Missouri out of Medicaid backlog appeared first on Missouri Independent.

States have recently focused their efforts to reduce the nation’s teacher shortage by promoting strategies that “remove or relax barriers to entry” to quickly bring new people into the teaching profession. California, for example, allows teacher candidates to skip basic skills and subject matter tests if they have taken approved college courses. New Mexico is […]

The post Recent efforts to combat teacher shortages don’t address the real problems appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by Investigate Midwest. A century ago, Congress wrote a law intended to counteract unfair business practices in the meatpacking industry. Fast forward to 2022: Just four companies control more than half of the beef, pork and poultry markets, and the meatpacking industry has fielded lawsuits alleging abusive behavior. The Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 largely […]

The post Congress could beef up meatpacking oversight this fall. But obstacles to enforcement remain appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon.  Community colleges traditionally have been commuter campuses. Fewer than one-third of the nation’s two-year schools have on-campus housing. But on Aug. 12, 258 students at Kansas City Kansas Community College in Wyandotte County will move into a sparkling new residence hall. Named Centennial Hall, the building has been designed […]

The post How a Kansas City area community college is helping students handle the housing crisis appeared first on Missouri Independent.

On the night of April 24, 2013, six residents living in a neighborhood just north of downtown St. Louis say they saw the same thing.  A young Black man – 25-year-old Cary Ball Jr. — crashed his car, got out, stumbled onto another car and limped away. And then each said they saw Ball drop […]

The post Grieving St. Louis families respond to police-involved shooting scenes, push for change appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In parts of the Midwest where lead mining and smelting lasted for over a century, communities are still dealing with toxic waste left behind by the industry. Lead, a dangerous neurotoxin, persists in the environment, including in water and soil, where it can pose a threat to the health of people living nearby. The risk […]

The post Kansas, Nebraska researchers use plants to limit exposure to toxic lead in soil appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Few things are more important in determining how well our government functions than each of us taking time to become informed, and to vote wisely in selecting those who will represent us. The primary elections in Missouri, and in most states, are over. The midterm elections are just around the corner on Nov. 8. Wherever […]

The post Our government only can function better if we vote wisely appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate, along party lines, passed a sweeping energy, health care, climate and tax package Sunday afternoon, following an overnight marathon of votes that resulted in just a handful of notable changes to the legislation. The 755-page bill was passed after Vice President Kamala Harris broke a 50-50 tie in the evenly divided Senate. […]

The post U.S. Senate passes major health, tax and climate bill in boost for Democrats appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. Senate voted along party lines Saturday night to advance to debate on Democrats’ sweeping energy, health and taxes bill, clearing a major hurdle to passage. The 51-50 vote, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie, cleared the chamber to debate and vote on amendments to the measure and indicated that it had enough support from […]

The post U.S. Senate Democrats’ climate, health and energy bill clears first hurdle to passage appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A major spending bill from U.S. Senate Democrats would allow Medicare for the first time in its history to begin negotiating the prices of certain high-priced prescription drugs — a proposal that’s been around for years but has never come so close to the finish line. Under the legislation, Medicare would start negotiating the […]

The post How Medicare prescription drug coverage would change under U.S. Senate Democrats’ bill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

U.S. Senate Democrats’ wide-ranging tax, climate and health bill appears set to pass after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona struck a deal to soften the measure’s corporate tax increase and a second tax hike aimed at wealthy finance-sector workers, Schumer told reporters Friday. The revenue lost to obtain Sinema’s support […]

The post U.S. Senate preps big tax, climate and health bill after deal struck with Sinema appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s top Democratic lawmakers have yet to receive a formal response to letters urging governors in Kansas and Illinois to help pay for abortions for out-of-state Medicaid patients, though a Kansas lawmaker said it is highly unlikely given Republican dominance of the state’s legislature. In letters sent Wednesday and first reported by the Associated Press, […]

The post Missouri Dems hope Kansas, Illinois will help pay for out-of-state residents’ abortions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Poisonous sand blowing in the wind.  Wells running dry.  A dark night sky ruined by constant lights.  These are the things residents in Ste. Genevieve County are worried about as they work to prevent a silica sand mine from moving into their community.  NexGen Mining Inc. plans to mine silica sand, commonly used for fracking, […]

The post Missouri law didn’t require environmental review before issuing silica mining permit appeared first on Missouri Independent.

On July 19th, I had the opportunity to testify to a Congressional committee about the challenges and opportunities facing family farmers like me. Below is a slightly condensed version of what I said. I’m Doug Doughty. We grow corn, soybeans and hay along with a cow/calf operation in north Missouri. I returned to our farm […]

The post State, federal regulations of CAFOs are weak. It will take political courage to strengthen them appeared first on Missouri Independent.

TOPEKA — For Ashley All, the effort to defeat a constitutional amendment that would have eliminated abortion rights is the most consequential campaign the Kansas political veteran has worked on. The issue is personal, All told news reporters during a conference call Wednesday morning. “I have four daughters, and this” — All paused. “I don’t […]

The post Kansas abortion-rights activists emphasized attack on personal rights to defeat amendment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Teachers, school administrators and advocacy groups on Wednesday laid out for a state commission a long list of grueling conditions they say drive educators out of the industry.   At the third meeting of the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Blue Ribbon Commission — created by the State Board of Education — testimony focused on low pay, […]

The post Missouri state commission told low pay, lack of support is fueling teacher shortage appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers and legal experts at a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday outlined the need to pass legislation clarifying an archaic election law so that the peaceful transfer of presidential power is ensured. The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, a bipartisan bill being pushed by 16 senators, was proposed after the […]

The post Members of U.S. Senate committee consider bipartisan changes to Electoral Count Act appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Democrats on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday explored how to combat violent threats lodged against election officials, while Republicans questioned why the Department of Justice isn’t doing more to investigate threats against crisis pregnancy centers and Supreme Court justices. During a hearing on protecting election officials, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite […]

The post Election officials at U.S. Senate hearing describe threats, spread of misinformation appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In late January, a GOP strategist named Kyle Plotkin bragged on Twitter about how popular U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley was in Missouri and how valuable his endorsement would be in the state’s upcoming Republican U.S. Senate primary. Plotkin, who had previously been Hawley’s Senate chief of staff but had transitioned to working for his campaign,used […]

The post Josh Hawley help for Hartzler unable to overcome Trump attack in Missouri Senate primary appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Witnesses in a Tuesday hearing detailed to a U.S. Senate committee how investors and stagnant wages are driving an eviction and housing crisis across the U.S. The chair of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, said that families are being priced out of buying homes, and rising […]

The post Record rent increases, low wages are driving an eviction crisis, U.S. Senate panel told appeared first on Missouri Independent.