Rudi Keller

In addition to proposing cuts to the lawmakers' priorities, Missouri House Budget Chairman Cody Smith, a Republican from Carthage, wants to cut all aid to libraries in retaliation for a lawsuit challenging a new state law.

The GOP bill would cut Missouri's corporate income tax rate in half, cut the top rate on personal income taxes, and exempt Social Security payments from taxation. Democrats, however, said another cut — coming on top of a tax cut approved in September that has not been fully implemented — would put the state into a potentially precarious financial position.

"Even though we’re in a fairly red state, we are having some more progressive policies, a little left of center policies, wanted by voters on both guns and school safety," poll director says.

It's currently illegal in Missouri for drivers under 21 to send a text message from a hand-held device while driving. The Missouri Senate committee approved a bill expanding that to all drivers, and adds that anyone under 18 would be banned from using any electronic communication device at all while driving, even if the use is hands-free.

Opponents to the measure say it's a rash response to recent ballot initiatives where voters approved policies Republicans have blocked in the legislature — including Medicaid coverage for low-income adults and marijuana legalization.

On the day the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Cincinnati Bengals to earn their latest Super Bowl trip, 1,550 people tried and failed 4,571 times to place a bet on the game. Across Missouri, more than 136,000 transactions were blocked on game day.

Gov. Mike Parson asked lawmakers to approve an 8.7% pay hike, the biggest in living memory, to stem the loss of state workers to the private sector. But the Missouri House Budget Committee decided that neither the governor nor lawmakers should be included.

Missourians are seeing massive delays in receiving services, ranging from call center wait times to court-ordered mental treatment.

In a party-line vote, Missouri House members approved proposals to make it more difficult to pass constitutional amendments.

After a musical drag performance at the annual Columbia Values Diversity Breakfast, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sent letters to the Columbia public school district and city officials accusing them of violating laws protecting children from sexually explicit material. The group says the performance was "completely G-rated."