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Fired Missouri warden alleges discrimination in lawsuit against corrections department
The warden fired from Jefferson City Correctional Center in the aftermath of an inmate’s death is suing the state, alleging she lost her job due to age, gender, racial and disability discrimination. Doris Falkenrath, who was fired on June 13, 2024, filed the lawsuit Aug. 27 in Cole County Circuit Court. When she was fired, […]
Missouri House Democrat faces ethics inquiry, loses committee seats over obscene text
A Democratic legislator from Springfield faces a Missouri House ethics investigation because of an obscene text message sent to a Republican colleague during debate over the new congressional district map. State Rep. Jeremy Dean of Springfield sent the text message on Sept. 4 to Republican state Rep. Cecelie Williams of Dittmer. Dean and other Democrats […]
Judge hears arguments in case seeking to toss Missouri’s new congressional maps
Gov. Mike Kehoe called a special session to redraw Missouri’s congressional map without a compelling reason, attorneys for the Missouri NAACP said Monday. Therefore, they contend, the map passed by lawmakers should be declared void. In the first of what promises to be extensive legal wrangling over the new maps, Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher […]
Missouri GOP senator slams party leaders for forcing vote on bills without allowing debate
The Missouri Senate died at 1:42 p.m. Friday afternoon when Republican leaders refused to allow debate on a measure weakening the initiative petition process, GOP state Sen. Lincoln Hough said in an interview with The Independent. A two-week special session to gerrymander Missouri’s congressional map and make it virtually impossible for voters to amend the […]
Emanuel Cleaver testifies against gerrymandering plan before Missouri Senate committee
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver warned Missouri lawmakers Thursday that the effort to redraw the 5th District seat to favor Republicans will be long remembered by voters who resent being swapped by politicians seeking to increase their power. Speaking to the Senate Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee, Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, noted that Texas […]
After hearing from Trump, Missouri GOP muscle gerrymandered map forward in state Senate
Just hours after hearing from President Donald Trump during a caucus meeting, Republicans in the Missouri Senate showed they are ready to please him by shoving a new congressional district map to passage over opposition from Democrats. The General Assembly is meeting in special session to revise the state’s eight congressional districts so Republicans are […]
Former Missouri AG shelves rule on social media moderation as he leaves office
One of former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s headline-grabbing actions — a rule that would have required social media companies to provide third-party content moderators — was quietly dropped just before he resigned. Bailey became co-deputy director of the FBI on Monday and was replaced as attorney general by Catherine Hanaway. The rule for social […]
Trump-backed plan to gerrymander congressional districts advances in Missouri House
The Missouri House on Monday moved the new congressional district map demanded by President Donald Trump one step closer to passing. The only drama during the more than four hours of debate was whether any Republicans would vote against the revisions intended to give the GOP safe seats in seven of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. […]
‘Jackass legislation’: Missouri lawmakers urged to reject quick fixes for property taxes
Missouri lawmakers should repeal property tax freeze laws that are warping the system, shifting the tax burden and failing to help those most in need of relief, St. Charles County Collector Michelle McBride said Wednesday. Speaking to the House Special Interim Committee on Property Tax Reform, McBride said there are 115 properties in St. Charles […]
Secret meetings of parole study group may violate Missouri Sunshine Law
The panel established by Gov. Mike Kehoe to write rules for how long people who break the law must stay in prison may be violating the law itself by meeting in secret. As one of his first acts as governor in January, Kehoe ordered the Department of Corrections and the Division of Probation and Parole […]
Missouri House committee urged to silo property into separate classes for taxes
MACON — Separate tax rates for the four classes of taxed property would protect homeowners from large tax increases during reassessment, Chariton County Assessor Darrin Gladbach told a special Missouri House interim committee at its final field hearing. If residential, commercial, farm and personal property each had a separate rate, any rate cuts due to […]
Missouri becomes first state to repeal capital gains tax, at an estimated $625M cost
A new Missouri income tax cut exempting profits from the sale of investments officially takes effect Thursday, along with smaller tax changes that will remove sales tax from diapers and feminine hygiene products. All state laws passed in a regular session take effect Aug. 28 unless another date is specified. The capital gains tax cut […]