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Missouri lawmakers likely to consider COVID liability protection in special session
JEFFERSON CITY—The special legislative session called to provide new spending authority for federal COVID-19 relief funds will likely be extended to include a bill providing liability protections for businesses and schools, House Speaker Elijah Haahr said Tuesday. In a brief interview after the Missouri House passed a $1.3 billion spending bill on a 133-4 vote, […]
Missouri adds more than 4,000 new COVID cases for only third time
Missouri reported its second highest daily total for COVID-19 cases Tuesday, with 4,256 new infections, just an hour before the state health director began a report to lawmakers on the status of the virus’ spread in the state. The Department of Health and Senior Services also found 138 previously unreported COVID-19 deaths in reviews of […]
Missouri House budget committee approves $1.3 billion COVID spending bill
Missouri intends to spend every federal coronavirus relief dollar it can by the Dec. 30 deadline, and is using previously received funds to obtain more, state Budget Director Dan Haug told lawmakers Monday. Haug spent most of the first three hours of a hearing of the House Budget Committee explaining the individual items Gov. Mike […]
St. Louis County mulls new COVID-19 restrictions as cases set new peaks
The COVID-19 pandemic continued to rage out of control in Missouri over the weekend as the St. Louis metro area considers new coronavirus restrictions and lawmakers travel to Jefferson City to vote on a $1.3 billion package of relief aid. St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, at a news conference Monday morning, urged everyone in […]
COVID precautions ordered for northwest Missouri hunting site
Hunters stalking ducks and geese in northwest Missouri’s Holt County will have their spots at the Nodaway Valley Conservation Area selected through an online system to reduce spread of COVID-19. The 3,900-acre conservation area was placed on COVID Red Level by the Department of Conservation after consulting with health officials in the county of 4,400 […]
‘Steep part of the curve’: Missouri faces growing COVID cases, hospitalizations
JEFFERSON CITY — The main source of COVID-19 spread in Missouri, state Health Director Randall Williams said Thursday, are the places people feel safest. During Gov. Mike Parson’s weekly briefing, Williams warned that winter weather driving people indoors will require additional precautions to bring the disease under control. “We believe that people are contracting it […]
Missouri governor open to adding COVID liability to legislative special session agenda
JEFFERSON CITY— Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he would consider adding COVID-19 liability protection to a special session if legislation that can be passed quickly is brought to him. The General Assembly began the second special session of the year on Wednesday with House introduction of Parson’s $1.3 billion plan for using remaining federal coronavirus […]
Missouri reports new daily peak in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations
Missouri reported a new daily high for COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations Thursday as the spreading infection created staffing shortages that are straining school districts around the state and forcing some to shift to online education. The 3,553 new cases reported Thursday is almost 500 more than the previous daily high, set Oct. 29, and is […]
Missouri lawmakers return with $1.3 billion COVID package on agenda
The Missouri General Assembly is being asked to prepare for the possible return of unspent CARES Act funds held by counties and add almost $19 million to money available to prevent homelessness in the special session that begins today. Gov. Mike Parson is also asking lawmakers to put $1 million in general revenue and $1 […]
BJC cuts back on elective procedures as Missouri COVID-19 hospitalizations surge
The surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations is forcing one of Missouri’s largest health care providers to cut back on elective procedures to preserve bed space. St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare, in a statement issued Tuesday, said it would delay elective procedures that require inpatient or overnight stays at four hospitals. The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force […]
Voters repeal Clean Missouri redistricting plan they enacted in 2018
Missouri voters on Tuesday repealed a constitutional amendment they enacted in 2018 that would have required legislative districts be drawn to ensure partisan fairness. They replaced it with one that critics contend could forgo the use of total population to draw districts and instead exclude all non-voters, specifically children and non-citizens — tilting the political […]
Missouri Republicans maintain supermajorities in House and Senate
Missouri Democrats had another disappointing night in legislative elections Tuesday, losing in two state Senate districts crucial to their hopes of cracking the Republican supermajority in the upper chamber. Republicans held a key Senate seat by re-electing Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden of Columbia in the 19th District in central Missouri. As in 2016, Rowden […]