Missouri State Government
This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon. On Nov. 8, Missourians voted “yes” on Amendment 3, which legalized recreational use of marijuana, meaning you’ll now be able to buy weed, like marijuana flower or edibles, in the coming months. Starting Dec. 8, the state will begin transitioning its medical marijuana licenses to recreational licenses,…
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MEMPHIS, Missouri – In March, Scotland County Hospital’s auditors delivered a stark warning. After five consecutive years of losses, only federal COVID-19 payments received over the previous year had kept the 25-bed hospital’s bank account solvent. In the fiscal years covered by the audit, accounting firm BKD reported, the hospital lost $7.9 million — $2.3 million…
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MEMPHIS, Missouri – Joni Lloyd was in her pajamas when the call came. Lori Fulk, chair of the Scotland County Hospital District Board of Directors, was calling. She asked Lloyd, the vice-chair, to come to her house to talk. When Lloyd arrived the evening of Aug. 15, she found Fulk was not alone. An emergency…
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A defective rocking chair will cost Missouri taxpayers $441,000, the Southern District Court of Appeals ruled Monday. In a case stemming from a 2015 accident at the Missouri Children’s Division office in Sikeston, the court ruled that Kenneth Gilmore, a grandfather injured when a rocking chair collapsed during a supervised visitation, must be compensated for his…
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Missouri House Democrats had their best election night in years Tuesday, flipping six seats while losing only one. Democrats went into this year’s election knowing they had no realistic chance of regaining legislative majorities the party lost 20 years ago. They targeted, and obtained, gains from new district maps. According to unofficial results, Republicans will…
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Republican Eric Schmitt will be Missouri’s next U.S. Senator, cruising to an easy victory Tuesday over Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine. With roughly 70% of precincts reporting, Schmitt led Valentine 56% to 41%. “Missourians have always been suspicious of a federal government 1,000 miles away telling us how to run our lives,” Schmitt told supporters Tuesday…
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President Joe Biden’s administration told hospitals in July they must provide emergency abortions when necessary even in states with strict bans in place. And here in Missouri, a Joplin hospital is apparently the first in the nation to be investigated for possibly violating federal law by telling a woman experiencing an emergency that she needed to terminate her pregnancy to protect…
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A state commission Tuesday laid out its recommendations to improve teacher recruitment and retention in Missouri, including a push to raise starting salaries that currently rank among the lowest in the nation. The State Board of Education approved the commission’s nine recommendations and pledged to bring the findings to the public and lawmakers. “I look forward to…
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While announcing a plan to pardon those with prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, President Joe Biden urged governor’s to follow suit for those convicted of state offenses. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, who has granted clemency to more people than any Missouri governor in the past four decades, doesn’t appear ready to heed the president’s call. In…
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Bringing attention to the importance of voting and women’s rights over their own bodies, Voices for Choice, a local group of concerned citizens, assembled and held demonstrations Saturday in Quincy and Hannibal. About 40 people gathered with their signs in support of women’s pro-choice rights on the corner of 30th and Broadway in Quincy. Concerned citizens…
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In an effort to fortify access to abortion throughout the Midwest and in Missouri, where the procedure is almost entirely banned, Planned Parenthood is launching a mobile clinic across the state line in southern Illinois. The mobile clinic will be part of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, and will provide…
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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 vote, the House sent…
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The Missouri Senate gave first-round approval Tuesday to a $335 million income tax cut over objections from liberal members who saw fiscal problems ahead and conservative members who wanted deeper cuts. The bill, which needs a final vote before it moves to the Missouri House, is a pared-down version of the $700 million tax cut…
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A Cole County Circuit Court Judge Friday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to block an initiative petition to legalize recreational marijuana from appearing on the November ballot. A day after a three-hour hearing, Cole County Judge Cotton Walker determined Joy Sweeney, an anti-drug legalization activist who filed the lawsuit, lacked standing to sue because she…
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The legislature will not reconvene next week as previously planned to debate a $700 million tax cut proposal offered by Gov. Mike Parson, Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden said in an email to staff Wednesday. Instead, the session is now scheduled to begin the following week, when lawmakers are already planning to be in town…
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Gov. Mike Parson announced Monday that state lawmakers will be returning to the Missouri Capitol after the Labor Day weekend to weigh passing a $700 million income tax cut and slate of agricultural tax incentives. Parson’s proposal would lower the state’s top income tax rate from 5.3% to 4.8% and eliminate the bottom income tax…
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Voting-rights advocates filed a lawsuit Tuesday arguing that a new law requiring Missourians to present a government-issued photo ID to vote is unconstitutional. While lawmakers have approved voter ID laws numerous times, and voters signed off on putting it in the state constitution in 2016, the proposal has never withstood a legal challenge. The voter ID law is…
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An anti-drug legalization activist has filed a lawsuit arguing a recreational marijuana initiative petition was improperly certified by Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and should not appear on the November ballot. The lawsuit was filed Friday in Cole County Circuit Court — the final day within the 10-day window outlined under state law for challenges to…
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — After a strongly worded demand from all of the Missouri agriculture community, the Grain Belt Express has agreed to follow the eminent domain law passed this past session as it builds its Tiger Connector line through Audrain, Callaway, and Monroe Counties. The Farm Bureau called out Invenergy, the owner of the Grain Belt…
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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, House…
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Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt defeated a former governor and two U.S. Representatives on his way to the Republican nomination for one of Missouri’s two U.S. Senate seats. Missouri’s senior Senator, Republican Roy Blunt, is retiring at the end of his term. Schmitt will face Trudy Busch Valentine, an heiress to the Anheuser-Busch brewing dynasty.…
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John Jackson handily won his bid for re-election as Associate Circuit Judge, defeating Tyler White 3,420 votes to 804 votes. Jackson, the former prosecuting attorney in Marion County, has been on the bench since 1996. The 10th Judicial Circuit includes Marion, Ralls and Monroe counties. White, 31, was charged in June by Bryant with attempting…
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Former President Donald Trump finally issued his long anticipated endorsement in Missouri’s crowded GOP primary for U.S. Senate Monday night. But it’s anybody’s guess which candidate he supports. In a statement from his campaign, Trump endorsed “Eric,” without specifying whether he meant former Gov. Eric Greitens or Attorney General Eric Schmitt. “I am therefore proud…
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Missouri Gov. Mike Parson issued drought alerts in nearly half of Missouri counties Thursday, where exceptional heat and lack of rain threaten the state’s farmers and ranchers. “Unfortunately, we don’t anticipate conditions improving soon,” Parson said in a news conference. Fifty-three counties along or south of the Missouri River are affected by the alert. About three-quarters of the…
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A poll conducted by the Tarrance Group has provided some interesting results. Notably, the poll shows Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt in the lead, garnering 28% of the respondents’ vote. The most surprising finding, however, is how poorly embattled former Gov. Eric Greitens performed. Greitens scored just 16% of the vote, a far-cry from the 20-plus% most other…
Read Full Article November 12, 2024
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