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Long waits for service and frustrated staffers, how archaic technology hurts Missouri government
For years, Missouri residents have watched the minutes, even hours, tick away as they waited on the telephone to apply for Medicaid, food stamps or other social services in a state bureaucracy hampered by understaffing and antiquated technology. Within the state’s Department of Social Services (DSS), which also handles the foster care systems, computer programs…
How committees pull the strings in the Missouri legislature
The Missouri General Assembly is in full swing, and legislators are beginning the arduous process of lawmaking through months of hearings and negotiations in legislative committees. Although bills need approval from majorities in both the House and Senate before they are sent to the governor’s desk, committees handle the intricate details. The fate of a…
These lawmakers represent Johnson and Wyandotte counties in the 2023 Kansas Legislature
Johnson and Wyandotte counties are represented in the 2023 Kansas Legislature by more lawmakers during this legislative session than the last, a reflection of the region’s growing population — and political influence. The region gained three state representatives after last year’s redrawing of political boundaries. Wyandotte County is now represented by eight members of the…
Kansas food sales tax has been lowered, but not everything you eat is eligible for savings
If you check your receipt from the grocery store, you may notice some food items are now being charged less sales tax. That statewide reduction in Kansas food sales tax of 2.5 percentage points took effect on Jan. 1. But what grocery items are actually eligible for the sales tax break is complicated and not…
Missourians on Medicaid should make sure state has their address if they want to keep insurance
About 1.4 million Missourians rely on Medicaid for their family’s health insurance, known in the state as MO HealthNet. They are all at risk of losing their coverage because federal law requires them to reenroll this year. The best way to prevent getting kicked off? Make sure the state has your current address. Those already…
DIY Democracy: How to follow the Missouri General Assembly
Members of the 2023 Missouri legislature are in Jefferson City to begin the spring legislative session. Much of the work happens behind closed doors, but floor debates, bill hearings and other legislative happenings are easy to tune into online. Lawmakers meet from January to May, with an occasional extra session if the governor decides a…
DIY Democracy: How to follow the Kansas Legislature
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include revisions to the legislature’s website made after this story published, and to add more information sources available to the public. When the 2023 Kansas Legislature convenes on Jan. 9, lawmakers will begin writing, revising and debating laws that will impact the lives of all Kansans. But…
Missouri ‘school choice’ bills to watch in 2023
Often framed as ways to increase “school choice” for families, proposals to spread charter schools to more of the state, let students more easily transfer to public school districts they don’t live in or receive financial support for private school tuition and homeschooling aren’t new.
Clean-slate laws could bring sweeping criminal expungements to Missouri
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the number of Missourians who are eligible to have nonviolent marijuana offenses automatically expunged. Thanks to voters’ approval of Amendment 3 in November, thousands of Missourians can look forward to having some marijuana-related crimes automatically erased from their records. Advocates for expungement, including some Republicans in…
Medicaid expansion in Kansas: What to know before lawmakers convene in January
Medicaid expansion is a popular policy among voters, in Kansas and across the country. More than 7 in 10 Kansas voters support expanding Medicaid eligibility, according to a survey from Fort Hays State University. But that popularity hasn’t been enough to motivate lawmakers to pass Medicaid expansion, despite a decade of trying. Lawmakers introduced dozens…
Loan forgiveness, hazing, vaccines: Missouri higher education bills to watch in 2023
The next legislative session starts Jan. 4, but representatives and senators are already filing the proposed laws that they will debate during the first months of 2023.
Missouri is set to execute two people in 2023, but opponents see room to push back on death penalty
While many states have effectively halted executions, Missouri put two people to death in 2022 and is scheduled to execute two more people in 2023. With a high-profile execution just completed, opponents of the death penalty want to reduce or halt the practice. Missouri executed Kevin Johnson, 37, on Nov. 29. At age 19, Johnson…
Legal weed is in effect, but expungements for past crimes may take time
Missouri state courts have begun the process of issuing expungements of most nonviolent marijuana offenses from people’s records, thanks to the November passage of a state constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana and expunge the records of some who had been criminally charged for its use in the past. But people familiar with the new…
As Missouri abortion-rights supporters look to initiative petitions, legislators try to limit power
Elected officials rushed to make Missouri the first state to ban abortion outright on the same day in June that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision. But an August poll from St. Louis University found that 48% of Missouri voters would support a reversal of the ban, and an additional 13%…
Initiative petitions let Missouri voters make policy, but some lawmakers say they’ve gone too far
Missouri is one of 26 states that uses an initiative petition process. It is also one of many Republican-controlled states where lawmakers are seeking to make it harder for citizens to circumvent their legislature and place a proposed law or constitutional amendment on a statewide ballot. Initiative petitions have been used in Missouri to enact…
What will the Missouri legislature be up to in 2023?
Missouri lawmakers are hard at work preparing for the 2023 legislative session, with instructional content in schools, gun safety, participation in school sports and citizens’ ability to shape public policy emerging as top issues. Legislators began prefiling bills on those topics and more on Dec. 1 with hopes that early filing would increase the chances…
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