Missouri General Assembly

Missouri lawmakers are still wrestling with abortion rights, paid sick leave, tax cuts and the state budget. What's ahead for the General Assembly in the last two weeks of this legislative session?

Missouri's elected officials have been productive so far in 2025, a stark contrast to the deadlocked chambers of the last few years. But with about a month left in the session, a budget and new anti-abortion legislation are still on the to-do list.

Missouri Republicans are gearing up for an unusual 2026 election cycle in which state legislative and countywide contests and ballot items could take precedence over statewide races.

It’s become a familiar pattern in Missouri — progressive ballot measures like abortion rights, Medicaid expansion and marijuana legalization find success in a state where Republicans have dominated for more than a decade.

Democrats hoped to gain seats in both the House and Senate — something they have not done since 2006 — and to break the two-thirds supermajority the GOP has enjoyed since the 2012 election. While each party flipped a seat in each chamber, Democrats made no overall gains.

Missouri's legislature passed a law in 2022 allowing two weeks of "no excuse absentee" voting before Election Day. It's already proving popular, with turnouts approaching 20% of the total cast four years ago. Voters aren't dissuaded by the long wait times, though.

The Missouri Department of Corrections had a $14 million budget allocation to install air conditioning at one of its intake facilities. It will take years for the project to be completed.

A new Missouri legislative panel investigates crime committed by undocumented immigrants, and is holding hearings around the state. But it's gotten pushback from residents because reports about the extent of immigrant crimes are mostly exaggerated or completely false.

The measure passed in 2023 requires removal of almost all personal identifiers, including witness and victim names and addresses, from public court documents.

This year’s Missouri General Assembly session was defined by fighting among factions in the Republican Party amid campaigns for other offices ahead of the November general election. It resulted in a recent low for passing legislation. Most laws are still waiting a signature or veto from Gov. Mike Parson.

Three interns in the Missouri Legislature recently helped Missouri school districts gain access to federal funding to help students experiencing homelessness. Why were schools missing out on funding, and how did the interns find it?

Supporters of a ballot initiative legalizing sports betting said they have gathered more than 300,000 signatures — roughly 171,000 are needed to make the 2024 ballot.