Missouri Senate

Despite the Missouri House voting to overturn multiple budget vetoes — including on funding for law enforcement — the Senate did not take any further action, leaving those vetoes intact.

Josh Hawley is nearing the end of his first term in the U.S. Senate, and Missouri Democrats are already jumping in the race to challenge him — although they'll have a difficult time winning a statewide contest. There's also a highly contested GOP field developing for Missouri governor, with Gov. Mike Parson not up for re-election.

The Joplin Republican was the only person ever to serve as Missouri House Speaker and Senate President Pro Tem.

The Missouri legislature stumbled its way to the end of this year’s legislative session. Catch up on the biggest things lawmakers did and what was left unaddressed. Plus: Inmates at a state prison in Lansing, Kansas, rioted three years ago but nobody has been charged yet.

With just a day left before the Missouri legislative clock runs out, some of the bills left unfinished include one to legalize sports betting, another to create an open enrollment system for public schools, and a ballot item to raise the threshold to amend the Missouri Constitution.

This year’s legislative session has ended in Kansas, although some bills are still awaiting Gov. Laura Kelly's signature or veto. And in Missouri, after a chaotic end to the session last year, state legislators vowed this year would be different — but that's yet to be seen.

The Senate’s proposed budget is $4.2 billion more than what the Missouri House passed weeks ago. Like in the House, most of the debate in the Senate was spent over an amendment that would have inserted language against diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Missouri House had voted to prohibit spending for “staffing, vendors, consultants, or programs associated with diversity, equity and inclusion.” But Senate Appropriations Chair Lincoln Hough said after speaking with departments, businesses and vendors, he recommended removing that language.

The Senate plan would spend nearly $2.8 billion to expand the entire interstate to three lanes each way.

The Missouri General Assembly is considering multiple proposals to limit — or eliminate — gender-affirming healthcare in Missouri. Today we take a deeper look at the issue and hear from patients, who say many people have the wrong idea about gender-affirming care.

Education issues that gained steam during the pandemic — how race and LGBTQ topics are handled in schools, and what role parents and the government should have in their child’s education — are now reaching a head in the Missouri legislature.

The bills now move to the House. Meanwhile, legalizing sports betting is stalled in the Senate.