Author

Jason Hancock

Jason Hancock

Jason Hancock has spent two decades covering politics and policy for news organizations across the Midwest, with most of that time focused on the Missouri statehouse as a reporter for The Kansas City Star. A three-time National Headliner Award winner, he helped launch The Missouri Independent in October 2020.

A stone government building on a cold, grey day

GOP legislators file lawsuit challenging cost estimate of Missouri abortion-rights amendment

By: - August 7, 2023

A pair of Republican legislators, along with an anti-abortion activist, filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the cost estimate of an initiative petition seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the Missouri constitution.  State Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, and state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, are named plaintiffs in litigation along with Kathy Forck, a longtime […]

False fraud claims a focus of Rudy Giuliani’s 2020 Missouri testimony, St. Louis defamation suit

By: - August 4, 2023

Weeks after former President Donald Trump lost his bid for a second term, the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election found its way to Missouri.  Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and one of Trump’s lawyers, appeared via Zoom before a Missouri House oversight committee in December 2020 to […]

A year after Missouri Senate collapse, Eric Greitens reemerges to bash Ron DeSantis

By: - July 25, 2023

Eric Greitens, the disgraced former Missouri governor whose Senate campaign cratered last year under allegations of domestic abuse, tip-toed back onto the political stage this week with a column for a pro-Trump news site declaring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential hopes dead.   In the column entitled “Accept It, Already: DeSantis is Done,” Greitens writes that […]

GOP primary for Missouri treasurer now a three-way race

By: - July 24, 2023

Missouri Treasurer Vivek Malek may have to fend off at least two of his fellow Republicans in the GOP primary next year, after another state legislator joined the race on Monday.  Malek, who was appointed treasurer by Gov. Mike Parson in January, was already facing a primary challenge by state Rep. Cody Smith, a Carthage […]

Missouri Supreme Court rejects AG’s push to inflate cost of abortion-rights amendment

By: - July 20, 2023

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s efforts to inflate the cost of an abortion-rights initiative petition were unanimously rejected by the state Supreme Court Thursday, just two days after judges heard arguments in the case.  The quick verdict, which was written by Judge Paul Wilson, was scathing in its opinion of Bailey’s refusal to sign off […]

Fight over cost of abortion-rights initiative petition reaches Missouri Supreme Court

By: - July 18, 2023

A legal showdown between a pair of Republican statewide elected officials found its way to the Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday, as the judges heard arguments over whether a behind-the-scenes push to increase the cost of an abortion-rights initiative petition was illegal.  Attorney General Andrew Bailey is defending his unprecedented decision to reject a fiscal […]

Transparency tool to return after Missouri governor signs fix to donor privacy law

By: - July 18, 2023

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation earlier this month making changes to a donor privacy law blamed for impeding public access to state contract information. The Personal Privacy Protection Act received bipartisan support on its way to being signed into law last year. The aim was to shield nonprofits from having to disclose their donors […]

Republican state senator launches bid for Missouri lieutenant governor

By: - July 11, 2023

A longtime Republican state lawmaker announced Tuesday she is running for Missouri lieutenant governor.  Holly Thompson Rehder, who served eight years in a Sikeston-based Missouri House seat before being elected to the state Senate in 2020, will run to replace Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe.  Kehoe is giving up his office to run for governor next […]

Legislator joins Democratic primary hoping to oust Josh Hawley in Missouri Senate race

By: - July 11, 2023

State Sen. Karla May is the latest Democrat to jump into the U.S. Senate primary in the hopes of taking on Republican incumbent Josh Hawley next year.  May joins Marine veteran Lucas Kunce and St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell in the primary field.  After serving eight years in the Missouri House, May was elected […]

Rep. Crystal Quade

Democratic legislative leader launches campaign for Missouri governor

By: - July 9, 2023

The top Democrat in the Missouri House officially launched her campaign for governor early Sunday morning, taking direct aim at her likely GOP rivals while touting efforts to restore abortion rights and block foreign ownership of farmland. State Rep. Crystal Quade, 37, is the first major Democratic candidate to enter the field to replace Gov. […]

Missouri bill creating transitional benefits for SNAP, TANF signed into law

By: - July 7, 2023

Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday signed legislation designed to ease the steep drop off in public benefits that low-income Missourians face when they receive even a modest increase in income. The bill establishes “transitional benefits” for two public assistance programs: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, previously known as food stamps, and Temporary Aid for Needy Families. […]

Baby asleep on mom's shoulder

Governor signs bill extending postpartum coverage under Missouri Medicaid

By: - July 7, 2023

Postpartum Medicaid coverage will expand from 60 days to one year under legislation signed into law Thursday evening by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.  Missouri had the 12th-highest maternal mortality in the nation from 2018 to 2020, and three-quarters of pregnancy-related deaths in the state — or roughly 138 people — were preventable, the Missouri Pregnancy […]