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Divide among Missouri Republicans threatens to upend special session on Medicaid tax
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and GOP legislative leaders were gathered on a conference call Tuesday morning, with little time to spare. The governor had set a noon deadline for lawmakers to strike a deal on a tax that provides $2 billion for Missouri’s Medicaid program. If they didn’t, he vowed deep cuts across the board […]
Judge strikes down Missouri Medicaid expansion as unconstitutional
The push to expand Medicaid eligibility in Missouri was dealt another blow on Wednesday, as a Cole County judge ruled the voter-approved initiative was unconstitutional because it didn’t include a way to pay for 275,000 new enrollees. Plaintiffs, which include three people who would have been eligible for Medicaid on July 1 if expansion were […]
Special session on tax crucial for Medicaid in doubt over Planned Parenthood amendment
On Tuesday, Republicans appeared to have reached a fragile consensus around extending a tax crucial to Missouri’s Medicaid finances — opening the door for Gov. Mike Parson to call lawmakers into special session next week. By Friday afternoon, that consensus appears to have been derailed, at least temporarily, by disagreements over a proposed amendment that […]
While the GOP rallied in Missouri, Eric Greitens chased conspiracies to Arizona
It was the year’s biggest gathering of Missouri Republicans, but the party’s putative frontrunner to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt was nowhere to be found. Over the weekend, nearly everyone angling for the Senate seat flocked to the Missouri Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Days in Kansas City and a Missouri Cattlemen’s Association fundraiser at […]
Companies accused of illegal gambling donate $350K to PACs tied to Missouri lobbyist
A pair of companies suing the state to block a crackdown on unregulated slot machines combined this week to drop $350,000 into six political action committees tied to a controversial lobbyist. According to disclosures filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission this week, Torch Electronics and Warrenton Oil made a series of donations to MO Majority […]
Federal appeals court upholds injunction blocking Missouri eight-week abortion ban
A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s decision to block a Missouri law criminalizing abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Almost immediately after the ruling, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said he would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. Reproductive Health Services […]
Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway announces she won’t run for re-election in 2022
Nicole Galloway, the only Democrat who currently holds a statewide office in Missouri, announced Friday she won’t seek re-election in 2022. In an announcement posted on Twitter, Galloway called serving as auditor “the honor of my life.” She pointed to her husband and three sons, noting that in her decade in public office she has […]
Missouri Republican calls for a change in Senate leadership over handling of FRA bill
The simmering division among Republicans over a bill crucial to funding Missouri’s Medicaid program boiled over this week, with the state senator at the center of the debate calling for a change in the chamber’s leadership. Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, led the charge to include language banning the use of taxpayer money for certain contraceptives […]
Medicaid? Voting rights? Critical race theory? Parson faces special session demands
A tax that funds $2 billion of Missouri’s Medicaid program. A push to ban the teaching of critical race theory in public schools. An effort to undermine changes to Kansas City’s police budget. And a litany of bills seeking to overhaul how Missouri conducts its elections. The calls from Missouri lawmakers for Gov. Mike Parson […]
Republican lawmakers call for special session over Kansas City police budget
Four Republican lawmakers from the Kansas City area are asking Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to call a special session in response to the City Council vote to give the city more control over its police budget. The council, led by Mayor Quinton Lucas, voted to reduce the police department’s $240 million budget by $42 million. […]
Missouri treasurer joins push against Biden effort to get banks to drop coal
A group of 15 Republican treasurers, including Missouri’s Scott Fitzpatrick, are threatening to remove their state’s assets from banks that “refuse to lend to or invest in coal, oil and natural gas companies.” The move comes in response to efforts by the Biden administration to get banks to help reduce U.S. carbon emissions. Specifically, the […]
Missouri medical marijuana companies win tax relief from state lawmakers
Missourians voted to legalize medical marijuana in 2018. But under federal law, growing, transporting or selling marijuana remains a crime. Unsurprisingly, that dynamic has created a lot of headaches for the fledgling industry. One notable example: Unlike every other legal business in the state, marijuana companies are prohibited from deducting business expenses on their taxes. […]