Elections

Independence, Missouri, residents will vote on April 7 for their next mayor and to fill two at-large city council seats. Recent debates over tax incentives for a massive data center could factor into the races.

If the measure passes, Kansas City will continue collecting a 63-year-old tax on wages, salaries and profits. If it fails, the city will be forced to find another source for hundreds of millions of dollars — or else make dramatic cuts.

The Hickman Mills School District is trying to help fill its budget shortfall by asking voters to approve a $20 general obligation bond, and allow it to shift 30 cents of the district’s debt service levy into the operating levy. Voters will decide both questions in the April 7 election.

Independence, Missouri, residents will vote on April 7 for their next mayor and to fill two at-large city council seats. Recent debates over tax incentives for a massive data center could factor into the election.

The U.S. Department of Justice claimed in court it already has sensitive data on voters so it can check for people who should not be registered. However, the Kansas secretary of state said none of that information has been shared.

The 1% earnings tax provides nearly half of Kansas City’s overall budget. Voters will decide April 7 whether to extend it for another five years.

Missouri's secretary of state is only checking about 200,000 of the 300,000 signatures that were submitted to force a statewide vote on the gerrymandered congressional map. Referendum organizers are less than 200 signatures short of qualifying for the ballot, but want all signatures reviewed.

A similar version of this bill was thrown out by the Missouri Supreme Court in January because of an unrelated item. Before it was struck down, that new process was put to the test over a proposed constitutional amendment to ban most abortions.

A push from Missouri's Republican attorney general to alter the census may lead to a radical shift in redistricting for state legislatures — drawing districts that don't take into account children and non-U.S. citizen adults.

The Missouri secretary of state may be given additional subpoena power to investigate complaints of election fraud under a bill that now heads to the state Senate.

The Missouri Republican Party is mulling over how national headwinds could affect key state legislative races and ballot initiatives, such as an abortion ban and redistricting referendum. Plus: Missouri colleges and universities are racing to fulfill a new request for student data from the U.S. Department of Education.

Missouri Republicans, acting at the urging of President Trump, redrew Cleaver's Kansas City-area district to make it harder for a Democrat to win. Despite uncertainties about which map will be upheld, Cleaver has filed to run for reelection.