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New law creates prison nursery program in Missouri
The Missouri Department of Corrections is required to establish a nursery within a women’s prison by July 2025 under legislation signed into law Friday by Gov. Mike Parson. On the final day of session, Missouri lawmakers approved a bill that included provisions creating the “Correctional Center Nursery Program.” Lawmakers also added $495,000 to the Department […]
Missouri governor signs bill requiring schools test, filter water for lead
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 […]
Independent Missouri Senate hopeful says Trump should face criminal probe over Jan. 6
An attorney running as an independent for the U.S. Senate in Missouri says Congress’ inquiry into the Jan. 6 insurrection has turned up enough evidence to warrant a criminal investigation of former President Donald Trump by federal law enforcement. John Wood, a Republican and former U.S. attorney who until last week served as senior investigative […]
Gov. Parson to sign sweeping elections bill enacting new voter ID rule in Missouri
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced he will sign a wide-ranging elections bill on Wednesday that would require voters to present government-issued photo identification to cast a ballot. The bill includes a litany of election law changes, ranging from prohibiting touch-screen voting machines to requiring election authorities to conduct cybersecurity reviews. It also will do away […]
Group to spend $1M attacking Eric Greitens in Missouri. Will crowded primary save him?
With Eric Greitens continuing to lead in most polls, Republicans worried he could cost the party a Senate seat this fall are planning to spend $1 million tearing him down before the Aug. 2 GOP primary. But is it too little, too late? The former Missouri governor’s standing in polls of potential primary voters has […]
Republican on Jan. 6 committee leaving to explore run for U.S. Senate in Missouri
A Republican attorney working as an investigator for the Congressional committee probing the Jan. 6 insurrection is reportedly leaving his position early in order to explore a run for Missouri’s open U.S. Senate seat. John Wood, who is a former federal prosecutor who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is being encouraged to run […]
Appeals court finds Greitens’ use of self-destructing text message app wasn’t illegal
Though the use of self-destructing text-messaging apps has the practical effect of “side-stepping the reach of Missouri’s Sunshine Law,” their use by former Gov. Eric Greitens and his staff was not illegal, a panel of appeals court judges ruled Tuesday. While Greitens was still serving as governor, he and his staff used a text-messaging app […]
Pair of lawsuits expose a potentially massive hole in Missouri’s Sunshine Law
In 2017, in two different state government agencies, Missouri’s Sunshine Law was put to the test. Just weeks after Josh Hawley was sworn in as attorney general that year, his staff began using private email accounts — instead of government-issued addresses that are automatically subject to the Sunshine Law — to discuss public business with […]
Democrat Senate hopeful in Missouri faces backlash over NRA fundraiser at family estate
Democratic Senate hopeful Trudy Busch Valentine says she convinced the board she serves on that oversees her family’s St. Louis estate to cancel a fundraiser for the National Rifle Association scheduled for September. News of the fundraiser was first revealed Tuesday by The Intercept and drew intense backlash from Democrats, coming so soon after a […]
GOP infighting in the Missouri Senate will shape primary battles across the state
Bad blood bedeviled the Missouri Senate for much of the last two years. And now it’s about to spill out onto the campaign trail. GOP primaries around the state will be the battleground to determine who steers the fate of a chamber coming off its most dysfunctional legislative session in recent memory. Will it be […]
Missouri AG seeks to dismiss suit alleging the office under Josh Hawley broke Sunshine Law
A Cole County judge on Thursday heard arguments over whether staff in the Missouri attorney general’s office, while it was being run by now-U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, used private email accounts in order to subvert the state’s open records laws. A lawsuit filed in 2019 by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee alleges Hawley’s office violated […]
‘Gray market’ gaming company pumps $250K into PACs tied to Missouri lobbyist
A company accused of operating illegal gambling machines in Missouri made six $40,000 donations this week to a constellation of political action committees run by its lobbyist. Wildwood-based Torch Electronics cut the checks Monday to MO Majority PAC, Missouri Growth PAC, Missouri C PAC, Missouri Senior PAC, Missouri AG PAC and Conservative Leaders of Missouri. […]