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Bills have been introduced to add a 65-cent monthly charge on phone bills to create a permanent source of state funding for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
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The Missouri House passed over 20 bills on Thursday, sending most of them to the Senate. It is unclear how many of them will make it to Gov. Mike Kehoe.
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Despite cries that it was “performative politics,” Chair Manny Abarca said the plan puts the county on record as opposing “the caging of people.” A second measure that would have barred federal immigration agents from wearing masks was held for legal concerns.
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Kansas lawmakers are more optimistic about the chances of passing property tax relief this session. One proposal is a constitutional amendment that would cap property tax valuation changes at 3% for most properties, while another would cap spending by local governments.
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The city approved massive tax breaks because they say the money and protections city will receive make it a good deal. Opponents want to put the incentives on the ballot so residents can weigh in.
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Missouri is one of two states where, if a jury is deadlocked on whether to sentence someone to death, the judge can issue the death penalty. The bill also establishes an automatic record-clearing process for most nonviolent offenses.
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A bill filed in the General Assembly would make Missouri the 24th state to call on Congress to overturn Citizens United. The advocacy group pushing for the bill says similar measures have gotten bipartisan support in other states.
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Fighting intensified in the Middle East during the Olympic truce, in effect through March 15. Flights are being disrupted as athletes and families converge on Italy for the Winter Paralympics.
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Some legislators were unclear if Kansas law already requires the use of turn signals in a roundabout. "As much as I hate them stupid things," Berryton Republican Sen. Rick Kloos said, "I like the bill."
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More than 1,000 Missourians traveled to the Capitol to attend Disability Rights Legislative Day. Lawmakers from both chambers have said they will try to restore $80.7 million in cuts proposed by Gov. Mike Kehoe.
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A Missouri House bill would establish a "Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Fund" that would buy, trade, and sell Bitcoin. But over the last 14 years, the cryptocurrency has lost more than 60% of its value six different times.
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Proponents are worried that soccer fans in Johnson and Wyandotte counties will cross the border to bars and stores in Missouri, which already passed legislation to extend liquor sales to 23 hours of the day.
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Missouri state Sen. Rick Brattin, of Harrisonville, is running for the 5th congressional district even though he does not currently live there. The Kansas City-area race is attracting a big list of Republican hopefuls because it was redrawn to include rural areas hundreds of miles away.
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Some transgender Kansans received letters urging them to request new IDs that conflict with their gender identity and presentation, because their current ones are "invalid immediately." It’s the result of a new law that also regulates which bathrooms transgender people are allowed to use.