Clara Bates
Reporter, Missouri IndependentClara Bates covers social services and poverty for The Missouri Independent. She previously wrote for the Nevada Current, where she reported on labor violations in casinos, hurdles facing applicants for unemployment benefits and lax oversight of the funeral industry. She also wrote about vocational education for Democracy Journal. Bates is a graduate of Harvard College and is a Report for America corps member.
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Citing the hefty burden on low-income shoppers and rising cost of food, states like Kansas and Illinois have begun reducing or phasing out grocery sales taxes. But in Missouri, a bipartisan effort to eliminate the state tax has hit a roadblock. -
The lawsuit alleges Missouri is wrongly depriving thousands of low-income residents access to food assistance and violating federal SNAP rules. It also argues that the state’s overburdened call center particularly affects those with disabilities.
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Thousands of other Missouri families are waiting for benefits called summer Pandemic EBT, a federal program administered by states that provides a one-time deposit of $391 in grocery benefits for each eligible child. Compared to every other surrounding state, Missouri’s delays have been especially unusual.
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Since the federal public health emergency was declared in March 2020, states have been barred from removing enrollees from Medicaid, in exchange for enhanced federal funds. That pause on conducting eligibility redeterminations will end April 1.
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The bills have earned support from Republicans and Democrats, as well as groups including both Pro Choice Missouri and Missouri Right to Life.
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A law passed last year made sleeping on state-owned land a misdemeanor in Missouri. It went into effect Jan. 1, but critics say there is still a lack of clarity from the state surrounding its implementation — and a lack of resources to actually help unhoused residents.
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Dozens of former students have gone public with their allegations of physical, mental, and sexual abuse at the Stockton-based Christian residential facility, which opened in 1996. For the last few years, Agape has been at the forefront of the state’s reckoning over abuse allegations at unlicensed faith-based boarding schools.
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Missouri’s program is accepting applications into 2023. The program for renters will cover up to 18 months of total assistance.
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A new report released Wednesday found the rate of uninsured children in Missouri stabilized between 2019 and 2021. But those gains could be in jeopardy when the federal COVID emergency declaration ends next year.
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Officials previously said the summer emergency food benefits program would be dispersed by the end of the year. Achieving that goal looks increasingly unlikely.
