Missouri Independent
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Missouri Independent is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization covering state government, politics and policy.
A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court seeks $550 million to address what it alleges are decades of underfunding at Missouri’s historically Black land-grant university. #moleg #mogov
Lincoln University students, alumni sue Missouri over unequal funding • Missouri Independent
Students and alumni of Lincoln University are suing the state of Missouri over decades of underfunding and unequal treatment.
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As members tried to define what makes a child safe or unsafe, two longstanding problems kept intruding on the discussion: a workforce struggling with high turnover and caseloads, and gaps in services designed to keep families safely together. #moleg #mogov
Missouri task force seeks clearer standards for deciding when children are safe • Missouri Independent
Members say common standards could help frontline workers, but staffing shortages and gaps in family services remain.
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On this week's episode of Missouri on the Record, Jason Hancock talks with Missouri Independent Deputy Editor Rudi Keller about how the redistricting fight spiraled into contempt proceedings, dueling state and federal court rulings and confusion for local election officials. #moleg #mogov
After a year of redistricting chaos, Missouri is back where it started • Missouri Independent
After a year of lawsuits and three trips to the U.S. Supreme Court, Missouri will use its 2024 congressional map in the Nov. 3 election.
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Missouri will not use optional federal exemptions designed to help low-income people keep Medicaid coverage when they are hospitalized, travel for medical care or live in areas affected by disasters or high unemployment. #moleg #mogov
Missouri rejects optional hardship exceptions to Medicaid work requirements • Missouri Independent
The Department of Social Services says people who have acute medical events or travel for care can maintain coverage using other exemptions
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Incredibly excited that The Missouri Independent will be partnering with ProPublica as part of its Local Reporting Network. I am especially excited because it means Luke Nozicka will be joining our team. #moleg #mogov
ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network Names Three New Partners for Its 50 State Initiative
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Thirteen donors flagged in federal letters appear nearly 5,700 times in the Missouri senator’s reports, highlighting questions about recurring online contributions. #moleg #mogov
FEC questions thousands of donations to Eric Schmitt tied to prolific online donors • Missouri Independent
The FEC sent three letters this year to U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt’s campaign asking about donations that appear to exceed federal limits.
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As Missouri prepares to vote on whether to reinstate an abortion ban, a new information campaign by a local nonprofit is setting out to remind Missourians that regardless of what happens in November, some abortion options will remain available. #moleg #mogov
Missouri nonprofit launches campaign focused on abortion options ahead of November vote • Missouri Independent
The campaign comes amid continued statewide abortion access fights and growing efforts nationally to restrict mifepristone.
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While the Department of Social Services says the change is aimed at lowering payment error rates, advocates say it could actually increase errors and cause eligible Missourians to lose benefits. #moleg #mogov
Missouri adds new paperwork requirements to food assistance as federal penalties loom • Missouri Independent
The Department of Social Services says the change is aimed at lowering error rates. Advocates say eligible Missourians could lose benefits
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Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has sent letters to about 1,000 registered voters notifying them that they’ve been flagged as potentially being noncitizens. #moleg #mogov
Missouri can keep using disputed federal database to review voter eligibility • Missouri Independent
U.S. Supreme Court order keeps expanded SAVE system in place as questions remain about how Missouri has used it.
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Eric Schmitt’s Hawks-Hawkeyes blunder and the politician he’s become #moleg #mogov
Commentary: Eric Schmitt’s Hawks-Hawkeyes blunder and the politician he’s become • Missouri Independent
Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt accused Jack Smith of perjury over a Hawks-Hawkeyes mix-up, highlighting how his political style has changed.
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On Monday, Eric Schmitt helped pass a bipartisan college sports bill. On Tuesday, he mixed up the Atlanta Hawks and Iowa Hawkeyes, used the bad information to accuse Jack Smith of perjury and called him a “dirtbag.” #moleg #mogov
Commentary: Eric Schmitt’s Hawks-Hawkeyes blunder and the politician he’s become • Missouri Independent
Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt accused Jack Smith of perjury over a Hawks-Hawkeyes mix-up, highlighting how his political style has changed.
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Missouri’s Eric Schmitt bungles accusation against former special counsel Jack Smith in heated hearing #moleg #mogov
Missouri's Eric Schmitt bungles accusation against former special counsel Jack Smith in heated hearing • Missouri Independent
Former special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday defended before a U.S. Senate panel his past investigations of President Donald Trump’s possession of classified documents and alleged role in attempts to ...
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A Cole County Circuit Court judge will decide whether to strike down a 2024 law allowing charter schools in Boone County, a case that could further define Missouri’s constitutional ban on special laws. #moleg #mogov
Missouri judge hears challenge to Boone County charter school expansion • Missouri Independent
Columbia Public Schools argues a 2024 Missouri law illegally singles out Boone County in a circuit court hearing
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Missouri Republicans are scrambling to organize late campaigns on ballot measures they spent most of the year trying to block from the Nov. 3 election. #moleg #mogov
Missouri Republicans scramble to launch late campaigns on two ballot measures • Missouri Independent
Missouri Republicans are scrambling to organize late campaigns on measures they spent most of the year trying to block from the ballot.
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Private philanthropy will fund two major initiatives underway at the Missouri State Board of Education, but the identities of the donors remain unknown to the public, the state education department and at least one of the contractors doing the work. #moleg #mogov
Private donors are funding Missouri education board’s commissioner search, strategic plan • Missouri Independent
Philanthropic funding is propelling Missouri State Board of Education's efforts to hire a new commissioner and refresh its strategic plan.
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Denny Hoskins’ terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month #moleg #mogov
Commentary: Denny Hoskins’ terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month • Missouri Independent
Contempt, lawsuits and three trips to the U.S. Supreme Court ended with Missouri right back where it started.
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On the this week’s episode of Missouri on the Record, Anna Spoerre explains why some abortion opponents are fighting Amendment 3, and how transgender healthcare became part of the debate. #moleg #mogov
Why some abortion opponents are fighting Missouri’s Amendment 3 • Missouri Independent
Inside the split over abortion, transgender health care and the multimillion-dollar campaign shaping Missouri’s November vote.
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Some conservatives argue the abortion restrictions don’t go far enough, a split that could matter in a race recent polling shows is essentially tied. #moleg #mogov
Anti-abortion divide could complicate Missouri Amendment 3 campaign • Missouri Independent
Some anti-abortion conservatives argue Missouri's Amendment 3, a ban on abortion with some exceptions, should be defeated because it does not go far enough.
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Reporters Clara Bates and Anna Spoerre were awarded the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism on Saturday by the Missouri Press Association for their reporting on problems in the state’s foster care. #moleg #mogov
Missouri Independent reporters win investigative journalism prize for foster care series • Missouri Independent
Reporters Clara Bates and Anna Spoerre were awarded the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism on Saturday by the Missouri Press Association for their reporting on problems in the state’s foster ca...
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The decision ends, for this election at least, Republicans’ effort to use a gerrymandered map to improve their chances of winning a seventh Missouri seat in the U.S. House. #moleg #mogov
US Supreme Court again blocks Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map • Missouri Independent
The U.S. Supreme Court weighted in for the third time on Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map and whether it can be used in November.
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Breaking: The U.S. Supreme Court rules Missouri's 2022 map will be in effect during the general election, blocking use of the gerrymandered map drawn last year. story coming soon at missouriindependent.com. #moleg #mogov
Home • Missouri Independent
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The campaign to keep Missouri’s abortion rights amendment in place has so far out raised the campaign to reinstate a ban about 7 to 1, in part because of $5.3 million from the Fairness Project, a D.C.-based nonprofit that doesn’t have to disclose its donors. #moleg #mogov
The Fairness Project remains largest funder of effort to stop Missouri abortion ban • Missouri Independent
Since 2017, the Fairness Project, a D.C.-based nonprofit, has poured more than $13 million into Missouri campaigns, including the reproductive rights fight.
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A Kansas City plaintiff is among five Medicaid recipients and six medical organizations arguing a federal rule unlawfully narrows exemptions for adults with serious medical conditions. #moleg #mogov
Missouri Medicaid enrollee challenges Trump rule on work requirement exemptions • Missouri Independent
Plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit argue the rule unlawfully limits an exemption from Medicaid work requirements for "medically frail" adults.
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A vast and growing network of artificial intelligence-driven Flock cameras could violate constitutional privacy rights, U.S. senators on a Judiciary Committee subcommittee said during a Wednesday hearing. #moleg #mogov
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley raises privacy alarms over nationwide AI camera network • Missouri Independent
WASHINGTON — A vast and growing network of artificial intelligence-driven Flock cameras could violate constitutional privacy rights, U.S. senators on a Judiciary Committee subcommittee said during a W...
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The Missouri Supreme Court is weighing whether a 2022 law making it a crime for school employees to provide students with “explicit sexual material” violates constitutional free speech protections. #moleg #mogov
Missouri Supreme Court hears appeal of school library ‘explicit sexual material’ law • Missouri Independent
The Missouri Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday over a law barring "explicit sexual content" from school libraries.
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The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday challenging an appeals court’s decision in March directing the state to award cannabis company Hippos LLC 13 facility licenses after finding the 2019 application scoring process was inconsistent. #moleg #mogov
State asks Missouri Supreme Court to block award of 13 marijuana licenses • Missouri Independent
The case revisits the grading process of marijuana facility licenses in 2019, which the state auditor found to have erratic scoring and poor documentation.
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Backers of a Missouri redistricting referendum late on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene for a third time in three weeks in the fight over which congressional map must be used for the Nov. 3 elections. #moleg #mogov
Missouri redistricting fight returns to US Supreme Court for third time • Missouri Independent
Backers of a Missouri redistricting referendum asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene again in the fight over which map to use the Nov. 3.
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Two measures on the Nov. 3 ballot could make another mid-decade gerrymander extraordinarily difficult — and potentially complicate Missouri’s redistricting fights for years to come. #moleg #mogov
Amendment 6 could make another Missouri congressional gerrymander much harder • Missouri Independent
If voters reject Proposition A and approve Amendment 6, Missouri lawmakers could face an 80% threshold before passing a similar congressional map.
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Missouri election officials will continue using the 2022 districts for now as opponents prepare to take the gerrymandered map back to the U.S. Supreme Court. #moleg #mogov
Appeals court backs Missouri’s gerrymandered map, but decision is put on hold • Missouri Independent
A federal appeals court ruled that Missouri must use the congressional map passed by Republicans in 2025 but stayed the ruling for a week.
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The curious case of a Ponzi schemer’s glowing profile in a Missouri newspaper #moleg #mogov
The curious case of a Ponzi schemer’s glowing profile in a Missouri newspaper • Missouri Independent
A glowing profile of convicted Ponzi schemer Siddharth Jawahar in a Missouri newspaper raises questions about political PR, ownership and newsroom boundaries.
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