JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The CEO of Centene Corp. has called Missouri an “embarrassment” after Republican Gov. Mike Parson and the GOP-controlled Legislature failed to approve funding for voter-approved Medicaid expansion. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday that Centene chief Michael Neidorff made the comments to Health Payer Specialist, a health industry trade publication.…
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A conservative advocacy group’s Missouri chapter is seeking to put what’s expected to be the state’s first gas tax hike in years to a public vote. The secretary of state said Monday that Americans for Prosperity-Missouri’s director filed the referendum petition. Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature last week approved a gradual increase in…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Missouri have passed a bill to raise the gas tax for the first time in decades. The GOP-led House on Tuesday voted 104-52 to gradually raise Missouri’s 17-cent gas tax to pay for road and bridge maintenance. If signed by Republican Gov. Mike Parson, the measure would…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri is resuming use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after federal scientific advisers decided its benefits outweigh a rare risk of blood clots. The state made the announcement Friday night in a tweet in response to U.S. health officials lifting an 11-day pause on the single-dose vaccine. The…
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri House wants to redirect Medicaid expansion funding to services for people with disabilities, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. The GOP-led House on Thursday voted 143-1 to pass an alternative plan for how to spend the Medicaid expansion money. Missouri voters last year amended the state Constitution to extend…
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri colleges and universities would have free rein to increase student tuition under a bill advancing in the Legislature. The GOP-led House on Tuesday passed a bill that would remove state limits on how much state colleges can increase tuition. Currently, schools can raise tuition to compensate for any cuts in…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Drops in coronavirus transmission rates in the St. Louis area are beginning to stall, raising concerns that residents are dropping their guard too soon and that caseloads could soon rise again. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the number of daily new coronavirus infections fell precipitously after a peak in January.…
CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man has been charged with trying to become a pimp for someone he believed was a woman who would work as his prostitute. Prosecutors charged Eric Niles, 36, of Columbia, Missouri, earlier this month with one count of attempted sex trafficking in the case. Authorities say Niles wanted to…
O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Eric Greitens, the former Navy SEAL officer who rose quickly to become Missouri governor before scandal forced him out of office just a year and a half into his tenure, is making a political comeback with a bid for the Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Roy Blunt. Greitens announced…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Black woman has become the face of Missouri’s tourism campaign, nearly four years after the NAACP warned travelers that their civil rights may not be respected if they visit the state. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Missouri Division of Tourism kicked off the campaign Monday. The woman,…