Former Gov. Mike Parson’s office spent $375,000 flying him around on state aircraft without keeping flight records showing why, and for a third of those flights auditors could not identify any state business purpose. #moleg #mogov

As Amazon and Google projects advance in Montgomery County, Republican lawmakers are pressing for a special session while candidates try to turn local concerns into a statewide issue. #moleg #mogov

The Planned Parenthood clinic in Gladstone began offering medication abortion on Wednesday, becoming the fourth location in Missouri to open appointments following a court ruling that expanded access to medication abortion for the first time since 2018. #moleg #mogov

The proposal follows Gov. Mike Kehoe’s executive order but flags new costs, staffing concerns and potential data-quality problems. #moleg #mogov

Gov. Mike Kehoe vetoed nearly $53 million from Missouri’s $50.7 billion state budget Tuesday, but his larger move was to freeze $441 million in spending — including dozens of lawmaker-backed earmarks — as state revenues lag projections and Missouri’s pandemic-era surplus dwindles. #moleg #mogov

New lawsuits say Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is pressuring bars and gas stations to shut off games before their legality is settled. #moleg #mogov

The state’s payment accuracy has improved, but advocates fear the push to lower errors could knock eligible residents off food benefits. #moleg #mogov

With state spending outpacing revenue, lawmakers expect the governor to use vetoes and restrictions this week to seek savings. #moleg #mogov

The tax break the ad is furious about was born in 2015, when the Republican-controlled Legislature passed Senate Bill 149. Among the senators who backed the bill was a Republican from Jefferson City named Mike Kehoe. #moleg #mogov

A parent-led coalition turning the income-tax repeal measure into a public education fight, warning that state aid is already falling short. #moleg #mogov

Ads over Amendments 4 and 5 are beginning to flood the state, but some major donors behind the campaigns may never be known. #moleg #mogov

BREAKING: The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, threw out a $1.25 million verdict a Missouri court awarded to a man who said long-term use of the weedkiller Roundup caused him to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. #moleg #mogov

Planned Parenthood clinics in St. Louis, Columbia and Kansas City began prescribing abortion medication this week, as telehealth remains blocked and the state prepares to appeal. #moleg #mogov

Secretary of State Denny Hoskins wants the courts to shield him from disclosing how his office is reviewing a disputed batch of signatures on a referendum petition challenging the state’s new congressional map. #moleg #mogov

The renewal has long been a safe bet, but supporters fear anti-sales-tax messaging around Amendment 5 could spill over. #moleg #mogov

A review of certified returns by The Independent found Amendment 4 would have blocked every citizen-led constitutional amendment Missouri voters have approved since 2020. #moleg #mogov

BREAKING NEWS: Medication abortion will be available in Missouri for the first time since 2018 after a judge determined most of the state’s abortion regulations are unconstitutional. #moleg #mogov

BREAKING: Missouri judge strikes down nearly all state abortion regulations #moleg #mogov

Medication abortion will be available in Missouri for the first time since 2018 after a judge determined most of the state’s abortion regulations are unconstitutional. #moleg #mogov

The 2016 amendment won statewide with 57% of the vote, a margin of more than 375,000 votes. Under Amendment 4, its 31,500-vote loss in one district would have killed it. #moleg #mogov

Attorney General Catherine Hanaway says the concentrated kratom alkaloid is a dangerous opioid; sellers argue it should be regulated, not banned. #moleg #mogov

Educational consultant Stacey Preis will lead Missouri's education department while the board searches nationwide for a permanent replacement. #moleg #mogov

Did you miss one of our morning newsletters? You can find it here on the homepage for The Daily Independent newsletter. It's free, so don't forget to subscribe. #moleg #mogov

Missouri election officials will begin mailing Aug. 4 primary ballots Tuesday to military and overseas voters using the state’s gerrymandered congressional districts, even as the legal status of those districts remains unresolved. #moleg #mogov

The budget passed by lawmakers in May, MO HealthNet will no longer cover chiropractic services starting July 1. Funding for physical therapy and acupuncture services for chronic pain will also be eliminated. #moleg #mogov

After years of Senate resistance, video lottery backers believe next year could bring a friendlier chamber. But three August primaries could determine how clear that path really is. #moleg #mogov

Gambling interests donated $1 of every $8 raised by lawmakers for this year’s campaigns, as video lottery backers seek access to a market with up to $10 billion in cash transactions annually. #moleg #mogov

Local Cannabis said it was adapting to evolving requirements, but regulators say products were not properly tested in the form consumers buy them. #moleg #mogov

Judges increasingly find official summaries fail to tell voters what ballot measures would actually do. Republicans say courts are overstepping. #moleg #mogov

An estimated 650,000 visitors will flood the Kansas City area over the course of the monthlong FIFA World Cup, which chose Kansas and Missouri as the home for four teams and at least six matches. #moleg #mogov

Lawmakers ordered the state to devise a new way to divide more than $1.1 billion among public colleges without increasing the overall total. #moleg #mogov

Missouri is about to exhaust the surplus lawmakers relied on to balance the state budget, and elected officials are going to have to make deep cuts to align spending with revenue, State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said in a report released Wednesday. #moleg #mogov

More than 333,000 Missourians lost Medicaid coverage from January 2025 through February 2026, with nearly 92% dropped because of paperwork issues — not because the state determined they no longer qualified. #moleg #mogov

The Missouri Association of Realtors donated $2 million Monday to defeat Amendment 4, pouring new money into a fight over citizen-led ballot initiatives just days after spending nearly the same amount to oppose a separate tax overhaul on Missouri’s Aug. 4 ballot. #moleg #mogov

The Missouri Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a last-minute appeal filed by proponents of a measure to repeal the state income tax seeking to revise the summary voters will see on the Aug. 4 ballot. #moleg #mogov

Missouri is postponing its plan to prohibit the use of federal food aid to purchase candy, prepared desserts and sugary drinks until Feb. 15, 2027, after grocers warned they needed clearer guidance to enforce the new restrictions at the checkout. #moleg #mogov

August will test the governor’s tax plan, Senate influence and Republican leverage. #moleg #mogov

The ballot summary, the court ruled, needs to make sure voters know they are giving lawmakers authority to impose new sales taxes without current constitutional restrictions. #moleg #mogov

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced Thursday that Kansas City-based CBD American Shaman – the largest distributor of kratom products in Missouri – has agreed to immediately suspend all in-state sales of kratom and 7-OH. #moleg #mogov

VA clinical trial on psychedelic-assisted therapy gives Missouri lawmakers hope #moleg #mogov

The nearly identical donations — the Realtors donation was $1 more than Missouri Promise’s $1.9 million check — make clear that the August ballot measure is quickly becoming one of Missouri’s most expensive and politically consequential fights of the year. #moleg #mogov

A task force rewriting how Missouri funds its schools faces an additional challenge of most counties assessing homes far below what they sell for. #moleg #mogov

Family support groups and education courses have helped Missourians fill gaps in the mental health system for decades. Now NAMI Missouri is trying to preserve them as Gov. Mike Kehoe weighs the final budget. #moleg #mogov

A proposal to replace the state individual income tax with expanded or increased sales taxes will be on the Aug. 4 ballot and voters will see the description written by lawmakers, a Cole County judge ruled Monday afternoon. #moleg #mogov

As lawmakers weighed moving MOScholars out of the treasurer’s office, the program’s largest scholarship-granting organization didn't sign a last-minute letter defending the status quo. #moleg #mogov

The campaign has raised $1.9 million. The source is a Delaware nonprofit with a St. Louis mailbox. #moleg #mogov

The deadline for courts to order changes to the Aug. 4 primary ballot under Missouri law is June 9. Gov. Mike Kehoe last week moved the measure, which would appear as Amendment 5, to the primary ballot. #moleg #mogov

The bill awaiting Gov. Mike Kehoe’s action would replace Missouri’s limited anti-SLAPP law with a broader path to dismiss lawsuits aimed at public expression. #moleg #mogov

As Missouri prepares to limit what low-income families can purchase with public food benefits this fall, grocers say they need to know which items to block at the register. #moleg #mogov

The Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a governor’s power to call lawmakers into a special session at any time, ending the last lawsuit intended to overturn the state’s newly gerrymandered congressional map without a statewide vote. #moleg #mogov