Government

Kansas City, MO – Senate budget writers say that the state of Missouri will likely have one billion dollars less to work with than it did prior to the 2009 legislative session.

The Senate Appropriations Committee is taking testimony this week from various people and agencies who want at least the same amount of funding for the next fiscal year, if not more.

Committee member and GOP Senator David Pearce believes revenues will continue to trend downward.

Kansas City, MO – Voting will soon become easier for military service members stationed in other countries. That's the gist of a report the Secretaries of State of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska gave at Liberty Memorial yesterday.

The four election officials summarized progress on implementation of overseas voting changes passed by Congress in October.

Kansas City, MO – Last Tuesday night, President Barack Obama announced he'll be sending 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. The morning after Obama's speech, KCUR's Elana Gordon headed downtown to gauge Kansas Citians' reactions to the surge.

Voices heard were David Hill, Mike Reynolds, Lucy Rios, Gayla Curtis and John Biswell.

Jefferson City, MO – Missouri Governor Jay Nixon says he's still determined to boost the number of poor Missourians eligible for Medicaid.

The Democratic governor failed to persuade the GOP-led General Assembly earlier this year to expand Medicaid coverage to 35,000. He says he'll try again when the 2010 session begins next month.

Kansas City, MO –
A 33 million contract with Motorola for new emergency responder radios sailed through the city council Thursday without a dissenting vote. The council also decided unanimously to take one more week to work out the details of a monitoring commission for the Power and Light District dress code... then turned its attention to getting some major bricks and mortar. KCUR's Steve Bell reports.

Kansas City, MO –
For the second time this week a member of the Kansas legislature has announced his resignation. Republican Wichita Representative Jason Watkins has said he'll leave the legislature effective later this week.