MoInd 📰

The expanded child tax credit that families received in 2021 helped reduce child poverty across the country, but particularly in the South where families lack a sufficient safety net, according to a paper released on Wednesday. The report by the Hamilton Project, the Brookings Institution’s economic policy initiative, comes as some Democrats appear ready to attempt another […]

The post Child poverty dropped to a record low last year. A new report shows how to keep it that way appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republicans determined to strip the Highways and Transportation Commission of its long-standing control of the multibillion-dollar state road fund are closer to getting their chance. On Wednesday,  the House gave initial approval to legislation making the fund that combines fuel taxes, license fees and vehicle sales taxes to maintain highways subject to annual appropriations. It […]

The post Missouri House advances plan for lawmakers to take control of MoDOT funding appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missourians of all races, classes and political persuasions want safer schools and stricter gun laws, according to a poll released Thursday. The latest St. Louis University YouGov poll shows support ranging from 63% to 83% for policies that include metal detectors, dedicated police officers, pre-approval of visitors and video security systems in schools. The survey […]

The post New poll shows broad support in Missouri for gun controls, school safety measures appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republicans on a U.S. Senate panel raised several objections Wednesday to President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration, while Democrats indicated their support and called the objections “fake scandals” meant only to create a political controversy. The Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s confirmation hearing for Phil Washington, CEO of Denver International Airport, […]

The post U.S. Senate Democrats back FAA nominee, despite GOP attacks at confirmation hearing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The picture painted by whistleblower Jamie Reed of how patients were treated at the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital doesn’t match Jess Jones’ experience. Jones worked alongside Reed for two years as the center’s educational coordinator before resigning in 2020. The allegations of misconduct laid out by Reed — both on […]

The post Families dispute whistleblower’s allegations against St. Louis transgender center appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Their project, called De Veras, aims to increase the accessibility of information about immigration legal services, education and health to Missouri’s Latino community, among other services. 

The post Mizzou students launch project to provide bilingual news to state’s Latino communities appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Members of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee listened to agribusiness executives on Tuesday rail against federal regulations, and lobby for new markets and reinforced crop insurance programs in the panel’s first hearing of the new Congress. With the 2018 farm bill expiring this fall, lawmakers who will shape the next version of the […]

The post U.S. House Ag panel hears industry complaints on regulations, scant crop insurance appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Doctors would no longer be required to test young children living in high-risk areas for lead poisoning under a Missouri House bill heard in committee Tuesday. But supporters of the bill, including the Missouri chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, say the legislation would increase access to lead testing and education and streamline requirements […]

The post Missouri bill eliminates mandatory childhood lead testing in hopes of increasing access appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. District Court judge who could end more than two decades of legal access to medication abortion underwent extensive questioning about LGBTQ equality at his December 2017 confirmation hearing — and very little about his views on abortion. Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk, appointed by former President Donald Trump earlier in 2017, spent much […]

The post How the judge who could ban the abortion pill won confirmation in the U.S. Senate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

An episode of GOP infighting in the Missouri Senate this week may be a squall that melts in the spring sunshine or the first flurry of a storm that once again immobilizes the chamber. On Tuesday, Sen. Mike Moon used a parliamentary maneuver to take control of the floor to vent frustration over the short […]

The post Dispute over transgender care bill brings factional fights to the surface in Missouri Senate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The majority conservative wing of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared skeptical Tuesday that the Biden administration had the authority to implement a federal student debt relief program that was estimated to potentially aid millions of borrowers. The conservative justices, who hold a 6-3 majority on the court, questioned whether the Department of Education […]

The post Biden student debt relief plan met with skepticism from Supreme Court conservatives appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The nominee for archivist of the United States made her second appearance before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee Tuesday, after the panel blocked her last Congress following a high-profile probe into records at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Colleen Shogan, an executive for the nonprofit White House Historical Association […]

The post Josh Hawley grills President Biden nominee over her social media posts appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri must issue a medical marijuana cultivation license to an applicant who was not informed that a key piece of paperwork was missing from its submission, the Eastern District Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. Mo Cann Do Inc., which sought a license for a growing facility in Cuba, is one of the rare instances where […]

The post Missouri appeals court orders state to issue medical marijuana growing license appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Rhonda’s bedroom was small.  She did not have much stuff but I knew we had to triage: dispose of, give to Goodwill, or keep. Dad opened the three white garbage bags so it was easy to sort. Suddenly I heard this guttural noise behind my back and turned to see Dad staring into the large […]

The post Losing my sister in a mass shooting appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A pair of veteran prosecuting attorneys panned legislation targeting the authority of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner Monday, with one calling the bill “unnecessary and counterproductive.”  Instead, Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said, lawmakers should let the courts deal with the question of Gardner’s competence now that a lawsuit intended to remove her […]

The post Missouri prosecutors decry bill to supplant Kim Gardner as St. Louis circuit attorney appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Missouri House committee on Monday debated a pair of bills seeking to fix issues with a donor privacy law that critics argue have undermined key activities of certain government agencies.  The bills — sponsored by Republican state Reps. Sean Pouche of Kansas City and Ben Baker of Neosho — seek to address concerns raised […]

The post Missouri lawmakers seek to remedy concerns with donor privacy law appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Forty million people in the U.S. are having difficulty affording household expenses, and a little more than 25 million people say they sometimes or often do not have enough to eat, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse survey data. The survey is designed to collect data on household experiences during the pandemic as […]

The post Families are taking a hit as pandemic aid ends, inflation continues appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Nearly five years after voters amended the state Constitution to require the legislature to abide by transparency laws, the Missouri Senate is advancing a bill allowing lawmakers to withhold a wide swath of records from the public.  Any record of a state lawmaker or their staff pertaining to “legislation or the legislative process” would be […]

The post Bill carving some legislative records out of Missouri Sunshine Law advances in Senate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

State Rep. Lane Roberts is not someone most would deem a “RINO,” or Republican In Name Only. The three-term Joplin Republican served as the director of the Missouri Department of Public Safety and as Joplin’s police chief, having previously led police forces in cities throughout Washington and Oregon, where he served as president of the […]

The post Debate over minors carrying guns has implications beyond the Missouri House appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — On the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration announced an additional $2 billion in weapons and a host of new sanctions targeting Russia’s key industries and government officials. The Friday announcement came on the heels of President Joe Biden’s historic and surprise visit to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, where […]

The post White House unveils $2B in weapons for Ukraine on one-year anniversary of Russian invasion appeared first on Missouri Independent.