Correction: This story has been corrected to reflect the part of the state Melissa Viloria worked in as a volunteer and the first year House candidates ran in new districts after redistricting. When Melissa Viloria was growing up in northeast Missouri, few people in power that looked like her. Viloria was born in Hawaii to […]
General Assembly
Posted inState Government
Missouri lawmakers passed 48 bills this year. Here’s a list of potential new Missouri laws
Correction (May 30, 2024): This story originally erred in how it described a tax-credit scholarship bill. Those credits would go to donors who contribute to a state fund to allow families to send students to the school of their choice, including private schools. Missouri lawmakers set their sights on new laws to make it easier for […]
Posted inLocal Government
The Missouri legislature is cutting local governments’ power to pass their own laws
Takeaways: If Kansas City had its way, the local minimum wage would run $17 per hour, grocery stores would only use paper bags and you’d need to pass a background check to buy a gun in town. But politicians and businesses that see these policy ideas as threats to their authority or their bottom lines, […]
Posted inState Government
When social issues stall Missouri lawmakers, statewide officials make their own rules
Who needs legislators? Especially when they can’t even pass laws on the hottest of hot-button issues? Instead, conservative Republicans who hold every statewide office in Missouri increasingly show they can limit what materials libraries can stock, toss aside rules on socially responsible investments and shut off access to gender-affirming care. When lawmakers in the Missouri […]
Posted inCivic Engagement, DIY Democracy, State Government
Missouri House and Senate OK two plans making it harder for voters to amend the state constitution
The Republican-controlled Missouri House and Senate advanced two different proposals Thursday that would make it harder for voters to change the state constitution using a constitutional amendment. The Senate passed a bill on a party-line vote that would dramatically crank up the difficulty of passing a constitutional amendment proposed by voters using an initiative petition […]