Gov. Mike Parson
Gov. Mike Parson prevailed on all his vetoes Wednesday when the state Senate refused to consider any of the 14 budget overrides approved by the Missouri House. The House achieved two-thirds votes to override vetoes on 10 budget lines providing raises for the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Capitol Police Department. The other successful override votes were on…
Read Full Article 
BARING, Mo. — Volunteers from all over the United States have been landing in Baring following the devastating tornado that destroyed the tiny Knox County, Missouri town this weekend. The volunteers are from Weaverland Disaster Services, a Mennonite disaster response ministry that has responded to everything from New Orleans hurricane damage to Joplin. Locally they…
Read Full Article 
Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday signed the tax cut he said a week earlier was responsible for his decision to veto most of the 201 spending items he cut from the state budget. The bill, exempting Social Security benefits and public pension payments from income tax, would reduce state general revenue by an estimated $309 million annually. It would also allow…
Read Full Article 
The state shouldn’t be responsible for paying people released after their convictions have been overturned, Gov. Mike Parson wrote explaining his veto of a bill that expands who is eligible for compensation for being wrongly imprisoned. Under current law, only someone shown to be innocent by means of a DNA test is eligible for compensation after being released.…
Read Full Article 
From the $8,000 set aside so the Lone Jack Police Department could buy rifles to $46 million for an allied health building at St. Louis Community College, Gov. Mike Parson’s veto ax fell heavily on earmarked spending as he finished work on the coming year’s Missouri budget. Parson announced his actions late Friday on the $51.8 billion…
Read Full Article 
Early in his annual State of the State address on Wednesday, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson sang the praises of an income tax cut enacted by the Republican-dominated General Assembly late last year. Closer to the end of his nearly one-hour speech to a joint session of the legislature, Parson vowed to “support and defend our law enforcement…
Read Full Article 
State workers would get their biggest pay raise in living memory under a plan proposed Wednesday by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. In a news release, Parson said he wants to boost all state workers by 8.7% and to offer a $2 an hour night shift differential to employees in four agencies responsible for people under…
Read Full Article 
For the first time in its history, the only real limit on what Missouri can buy on a cash-and-carry basis is the imagination of the people spending the money. The state treasury is bulging with more than $6 billion in surplus cash, the result of 28 months of double-digit revenue growth and federal payments tied…
Read Full Article 
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…
Read Full Article 
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…
Read Full Article 
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…
Read Full Article 
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…
Read Full Article 
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…
Read Full Article 
Efforts to eliminate lead in school drinking water got a huge boost on Friday, as Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed off on legislation requiring testing and also gave his approval to $27 million in federal funds to help schools install filters. The new law, which goes into effect Aug. 28, requires schools to test their…
Read Full Article 
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A new system for reporting armed intruders may be coming to Missouri school districts by the fall semester. The process for implementing the system is on hold until Gov. Mike Parson signs off on Missouri’s budget. $1.9 million of state money was set aside to assist school districts in implementing a new app…
Read Full Article 
Parson signs Missouri's $4.6 billion spending plan, House approves bill targeting Medicaid expansion
The first bill sent to Gov. Mike Parson from this year’s legislative session includes a pay raise for state employees, money to fund Medicaid through the end of the fiscal year and federal COVID-19 recovery funding for schools. The Missouri House on Thursday voted 133-12 to pass the $4.6 billion supplemental spending bill approved Wednesday evening in the state Senate.…
Read Full Article 
With the 2016 relocation of the Rams back to Los Angeles tied up in court, there has been some speculation of St. Louis receiving an NFL expansion team as a way to appease it for the loss. Rams owner Stan Kroenke and other team owners are embroiled in a massive legal battle with St. Louis over allegations the team improperly moved…
Read Full Article 
HANNIBAL, Mo. — To support the city following February’s cold snap, Missouri granted Hannibal $750,000 through an interest-free municipal utility loan Oct. 22. The loan was administered through the Department of Natural Resources Division of Energy and is part of the Municipal Utility Emergency Loan Program enacted by Gov. Mike Parson in May. The General Assembly earmarked $50 million…
Read Full Article 
Gov. Mike Parson announced a sudden cabinet shake-up Tuesday, with a slew of personnel changes across five state agencies — including the immediate and unexplained departure of the official in charge of the state’s procurement agency. In a news release Tuesday afternoon, Parson announced Office of Administration (OA) Commissioner Sarah Steelman was stepping down and…
Read Full Article 
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Gov. Mike Parson announced Wednesday the state of Missouri has approved more than $1.8 million in grant assistance to 19 agencies across the state to investigate and prosecute crimes that victimized children. “Criminals who victimize children must be investigated, prosecuted, and brought to justice, no matter when they commit these heinous crimes,”…
Read Full Article 
Missouri Republicans assailed President Joe Biden’s push to require employees of private businesses to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing, vowing a legislative response and legal action. Gov. Mike Parson promised to “fight back against federal power grabs and government overreach” in a tweet Thursday afternoon, calling Biden’s plan “an insult to our…
Read Full Article 
The schools in Gov. Mike Parson’s hometown will continue to require students, teachers and staff to wear masks indoors despite a lawsuit filed by the Missouri attorney general challenging public school mask mandates across the state. The Bolivar R-1 Board of Education in Polk County voted in a special meeting this month to require masks as a…
Read Full Article 
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Gov. Mike Parson pardoned Mark and Patricia McCloskey last month, the Governor’s Office said. The McCloskeys had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in June related to last year’s incident when the couple pointed firearms at protesters who marched past their house in St. Louis. Mark McCloskey is a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. The McCloskeys were…
Read Full Article 
The desire to blame folks for things is a very powerful urge. Typically blame comes when folks are frustrated or scared or when they have an agenda. Then they feel the urge to stretch blame to highly illogical places. COVID has been so all-encompassing for people. After a year and a half, any sane person…
Read Full Article 
Eight months after her son was born, Webster Groves High School teacher Jaime Adamski broke down in tears at her doctor’s office. Her breast milk had declined significantly since she had gone back to work. “I was depressed, angry, frustrated,” she said. “I felt like I was not a good enough mother because I wasn’t…
Read Full Article By JASON HANCOCKThe Missouri Independent Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has added his name to the growing list of GOP elected officials asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Parson and 11 Republican governors submitted an amicus brief on Thursday in a Mississippi case weighing whether state laws that…
Read Full Article 
By TESSA WEINBERGThe Missouri Independent In a bid to increase vaccination rates to combat the Delta variant’s growing spread, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced Wednesday an incentive program that will feature chances to win $10,000 for those who get a shot. Parson was also joined Wednesday by Donald Kauerauf, a former assistant director in the Illinois Department of…
Read Full Article By TESSA WEINBERGThe Missouri Independent Missouri requested Friday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reconsider its rejection of the state’s vaccine incentive plan. Robert Knodell, the acting director of Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services, urged CDC Director Rochelle Walensky to make an exception to CDC guidance that states incentives may not…
Read Full Article 
By TESSA WEINBERGMissouri Independent As a new surge of COVID cases overtakes Missouri, businesses, healthcare providers and houses of worship will soon be shielded from most COVID-related lawsuits under a bill Gov. Mike Parson signed Wednesday. Senate Bill 51, sponsored by Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, provides sweeping protections for businesses unless a high standard of…
Read Full Article 
By CAMERON GERBERThe Missouri Times JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Gov. Mike Parson signed off on Missouri’s operating budget for the new fiscal year, authorizing more than $35 billion in funds while issuing several budgetary vetoes. The Republican executive partially vetoed several appropriations bills, cutting line items amounting to nearly $115 million. The remaining budget emphasizes education, workforce development, and…
Read Full Article