Missouri General Assembly

There are more than 10,000 cases of alleged child abuse and neglect in Missouri that remain open, including over 3,600 in the Kansas City region. The NPR Midwest Newsroom found that investigators in the state's Children’s Division are overloaded and dealing with a shortage of case workers.

Officials agree that clearing the backlog at Missouri’s Children’s Division won’t be easy or quick. “I think this is a business decision when it comes down to it," says one Lee's Summit lawmaker. “If we value the children of Missouri, we have to do more.”

Gov. Mike Parson vetoed roughly 200 line items in the Missouri budget, primarily contending that he wanted to prevent financial difficulties in future years.

A crime bill awaits action by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. Shepherded to passage by Parkville Republican Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, it removes limits on payments to wrongly convicted people.

The attorney general’s rule impacted adults. Legislation limiting access for only minors awaits Gov. Mike Parson’s signature.

The Senate had been moving at a glacial pace all week, imperiling major pieces of legislation for the GOP majority.

After barely passing a budget on time thanks to a filibuster over a Kansas City landfill, legislators still have major priorities to try to pass in the dwindling hours of the session, including restrictions on initiative ballot petitions and gender-affirming care.

Rep. Doug Richey, a Republican from Excelsior Springs, is proposing a narrowed version of his amendment banning diversity, equity and inclusion programming as the Missouri budget debate moves to the Senate.

The exams, which occur on anesthetized patients without their knowledge, are often done by medical and nursing students who are told to perform them by their superiors. While non-consensual pelvic, prostate and anal exams remain legal in 29 states, legislation that seeks to ban the practice has gained traction in Missouri.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft tweeted that a job posting for a “diversity, inclusion and belonging leader” was an example of “left-wing indoctrination in the workplace” and the wrong use of taxpayer dollars. State agency leaders say inclusion and belonging programs help retain employees during a severe staffing shortage.

Both bills now go to the Missouri House, where leadership says they are a priority.

"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.