Missouri Senate

The Missouri Senate gave first-round approval to a pair of bills early Tuesday morning targeting transgender minors and athletes. It needs another vote in the Senate before moving on to the Missouri House.

The legislation, which includes blocking transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming health care like hormones or puberty blockers, has been held up with a filibuster over several days. Another bill would bar transgender athletes in schools from participating in sports that align with their gender identity.

Missouri Senators left for spring break a day early because of a Democratic filibuster on legislation that would bar transgender minors from receiving gender-affirming health care. That bill is expected to be debated this week.

Citing the hefty burden on low-income shoppers and rising cost of food, states like Kansas and Illinois have begun reducing or phasing out grocery sales taxes. But in Missouri, a bipartisan effort to eliminate the state tax has hit a roadblock.

A pair of bills were debated by the Senate education and workforce development committee aimed at expanding access to activities like sports and clubs to students who are homeschooled.

Sponsored by Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, the legislation would block certain gender-affirming health care services, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, for transgender Missourians under the age of 18. Democratic lawmakers filibustered the bill for two days, before the Senate adjourned early for spring break.

It’s the last week before the midterm break in the Missouri legislative session. What’s winning out – bipartisan agreement about how to spend the state’s record budget surplus? Or the acrimony that's paralyzed the General Assembly around controversial issues in recent years?

Under the legislation, the governor would be able to appoint a special prosecutor for a period of up to five years in jurisdictions where homicide cases exceed a certain rate. Currently, only St. Louis falls under that requirement.

Representatives from Missouri for Life, the Missouri Catholic Conference and other organizations argued that abortion is now illegal in Missouri, so funding it should be as well.

A Missouri Senate committee heard two bills on Wednesday that would legalize sports betting. Among those in support of the bills were representatives of all six of Missouri’s professional sports teams.

Under the legislation, those who receive benefits from Medicaid during pregnancy would be able to keep them for one full-year post birth. But the program can only begin after nearly 5,000 other people are kicked off Medicaid.

Neither Lamar Johnson nor Kevin Strickland have received compensation from the Missouri for the decades they spent wrongfully incarcerated. That’s because Missouri law only allows for payments to prisoners who prove their innocence through specific DNA testing — which was not the case for either man. A new Missouri Senate bill would change that.