Missouri Independent
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Missouri Independent is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization covering state government, politics and policy.
Baby bottles, baby wipes and breast pump supplies would be exempt from state and local sales taxes under a bill discussed by a Missouri Senate committee Wednesday. #moleg #mogov
Missouri lawmakers debate eliminating sales tax on infant care items • Missouri Independent
The bill would exempt baby bottles, baby wipes and breast pumps from state sales tax, after a law repealed sales tax on diapers last year.
missouriindependent.com
January 22, 2026 at 12:57 PM
Former House Speaker John Diehl, who pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud, is asking a federal judge for leniency as he faces the possibility of years behind bars. #moleg #mogov
Ex–Missouri House Speaker John Diehl seeks to avoid prison in COVID loan fraud case • Missouri Independent
Former House Speaker John Diehl is asking a federal judge for leniency as he faces the possibility of years behind bars.
missouriindependent.com
January 21, 2026 at 7:41 PM
The push to allow Waymo driverless taxis to operate in Missouri cleared its first hurdle Tuesday evening. #moleg #mogov
Bills legalizing driverless cars clear a Missouri House committee • Missouri Independent
St. Louis has already partnered with Waymo cars as a test site for its services, but the cars can't be driverless without passing state laws.
missouriindependent.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Currently, restrictions on cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers and the transgender athletes law are set to expire Aug. 28, 2027. #moleg #mogov
Missouri lawmakers seek to make restrictions on transgender health care, athletes permanent • Missouri Independent
A Missouri House committee debates legislation to remove the sunsets on anti-transgender laws, leading to hours of public testimony.
missouriindependent.com
January 21, 2026 at 2:24 PM
The first slate of witnesses from the Missouri Attorney General’s office in the fight to uphold statewide abortion regulations offered testimony that professionals and scientific studies have long disputed, including claims about mental health outcomes and abortion medication. #moleg #mogov
Missouri leans on disputed mental health claims in defense of strict abortion laws • Missouri Independent
Two women who had abortions in Missouri testified about the regret they felt after the procedure as part of the state's argument for informed consent laws.
missouriindependent.com
January 21, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Missouri’s budget picture brightened slightly this week with the discovery of a $250 million error in state projections, though lawmakers were warned Tuesday the change isn’t enough to take tight controls off state spending. #moleg #mogov
Missouri discovers $250M budget mistake, but officials warn spending squeeze remains • Missouri Independent
Missouri’s budget picture brightened slightly this week with the discovery of a $250 million error in state projections.
missouriindependent.com
January 20, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Reposted by Missouri Independent
The governor warns Missouri is stagnating while proposing to expand a tax-cut approach that has shaped state policy for decades. #moleg #mogov
Mike Kehoe says Missouri is falling behind. His solution: more tax cuts • Missouri Independent
Gov. Mike Kehoe says Missouri is falling behind and tax cuts are the solution. But tax cuts have been a regular fixture in state politics.
missouriindependent.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Missouri lawmakers are considering a package of bills they hope will curb child sex trafficking, train first responders to recognize signs of sex trafficking and shift punishment away from survivors. #moleg #mogov
Missouri lawmakers signal bipartisan support for bills to curb child sexual abuse • Missouri Independent
Missouri lawmakers are considering bills they hope will curb sex trafficking and protect children from abuse that stops short of sex.
missouriindependent.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Missouri lawmakers want to expand MOScholars eligibility, but a state budget with little excess may cap scholarship availability below demand. #moleg #mogov
Proposals to expand Missouri private school voucher program meet tight budget • Missouri Independent
Missouri lawmakers seeking to expand the state's education voucher program, MOScholars, must grapple with budgetary restrictions.
missouriindependent.com
January 20, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Roughly 1% of the more than 53,000 Missourians who received abortions over the last 10 years in Illinois and Kansas experienced complications, ranging from infection to incomplete abortions to hemorrhaging. #moleg #mogov
Abortion safety takes center stage as Missouri trial enters second week • Missouri Independent
The second week of a trial to determine what abortions regulations will stand under Missouri's new reproductive rights amendment continues in Kansas City.
missouriindependent.com
January 19, 2026 at 1:28 PM
Missouri Senate Democrats blocked debate on more than a dozen gubernatorial appointments Thursday, bringing the chamber to a standstill and vowing to spend the year slowing down the legislative process. #moleg #mogov
Democrats stall Missouri governor’s appointments, vow to slow Senate pace • Missouri Independent
Missouri Senate Democrats blocked debate on more than a dozen gubernatorial appointments Thursday, bringing the chamber to a standstill.
missouriindependent.com
January 15, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Whether inmates die while in state custody is not used to measure the performance of Missouri’s private prison health care contractor, the state’s top corrections official told lawmakers Wednesday. #moleg #mogov
Missouri pays $212M for prison health care, but inmate deaths aren’t a performance measure • Missouri Independent
Whether inmates die while in state custody is not used to measure the performance of Missouri’s private prison health care contractor.
missouriindependent.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Missouri’s Billy Long, who is President Trump's pick to become ambassador to Iceland, is facing backlash for joking that the country should become the 52nd U.S. state (after Greenland) and he should serve as governor. #moleg #mogov
Missouri’s Billy Long apologizes after joking Iceland should become 52nd U.S. state • Missouri Independent
Billy Long’s was forced to apologize for saying Iceland should become a U.S. state, with him serving as governor.
missouriindependent.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Missouri House and Senate committees heard bills this week that would align state policy with the federal limits on intoxicating hemp products, set to go into effect in November. #moleg #mogov
Bills banning intoxicating hemp in Missouri are ‘priority,’ lawmakers say • Missouri Independent
Missouri lawmakers heard bills this week that would align state policy with the upcoming federal limits on intoxicating hemp products.
missouriindependent.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:37 PM
The role Missouri’s abortion regulations played in limiting the number of physicians able and willing to offer abortion services was highlighted in testimony this week in the trial over Missouri’s new reproductive rights amendment. #moleg #mogov
Abortion trial details how laws drove providers from Missouri Planned Parenthood clinics • Missouri Independent
Decades of laws regulating abortion providers and clinics made it difficult to recruit or authorize doctors to perform abortions.
missouriindependent.com
January 15, 2026 at 1:10 PM
Gov. Mike Kehoe’s supplemental budget asks lawmakers to use general revenue to cover Medicaid expansion costs for the first time, as enrollment grows and federal pandemic aid runs out. #moleg #mogov
State general revenue needed for first time to fund Missouri Medicaid expansion • Missouri Independent
For the first time since it was enacted by voters in 2020, the Missouri general revenue fund will be tapped to pay for Medicaid expansion.
missouriindependent.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:11 PM
The Missouri Office of Childhood has received federal funding owed to more than 1,700 child care providers after submitting a “comprehensive breakdown” of expenditures. #moleg #mogov
Delayed federal funds start flowing to Missouri child care providers • Missouri Independent
Missouri has received federal funding owed to more than 1,700 child care providers after justifying expenditures to federal officials.
missouriindependent.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is requesting $1 million to furnish new St. Louis offices
The space in the new state office building in Chesterfield would be assigned to the solicitor general’s office, which handles complex appeals and trial cases. #moleg #mogov
The space in the new state office building in Chesterfield would be assigned to the solicitor general’s office, which handles complex appeals and trial cases. #moleg #mogov
Missouri attorney general wants $1 million to furnish new St. Louis offices • Missouri Independent
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway wants nearly $1 million by June to furnish new offices for one of her highest-paid employees.
missouriindependent.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:02 PM
The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously upheld a law barring minors from receiving cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers and gender transition surgeries and prohibiting Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care for all ages. #moleg #mogov
Missouri Supreme Court upholds state’s gender-affirming care restrictions • Missouri Independent
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously to uphold a state law barring minors from accessing gender-affirming care.
missouriindependent.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Missouri’s revenue surplus, nearly $8 billion a few years ago, will be exhausted at the end of the coming fiscal year even with a proposed budget that has no new money for public schools, higher education or state employee pay raises. #moleg #mogov
Missouri revenue surplus nearly gone as Gov. Mike Kehoe unveils his budget plan • Missouri Independent
Missouri’s revenue surplus, nearly $8 billion a few years ago, will be exhausted at the end of the coming fiscal year.
missouriindependent.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:05 PM
Gov. Mike Kehoe wants voters to decide later this year whether Missouri should eliminate its income tax
“Once voters approve this measure,” he said, “I look forward to working with the General Assembly next session to carry out the will of the people and put this plan into action.” #moleg #mogov
“Once voters approve this measure,” he said, “I look forward to working with the General Assembly next session to carry out the will of the people and put this plan into action.” #moleg #mogov
Gov. Mike Kehoe wants voters to decide whether Missouri should eliminate its income tax • Missouri Independent
Gov. Mike Kehoe wants voters to determine laster this year whether Missouri should completely phase out its income tax.
missouriindependent.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:00 PM