MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
Both the state's House and Senate approved tax-cut measures on Thursday before taking off for the weekend.
The House passed the major component of the governor's tax-cut plan -- an increase in the income tax deduction for individuals and dependents that would cut taxes by more than $150 million.
At the same time, the Senate passed a measure that would provide a tax break for prescription drug purchases by the elderly.
The House passed and sent to the Senate legislation that would put a non-voting faculty member on university governing boards. The proposal also allows the faculty member and student curators to attend closed board meetings.
The vote had a partisan flavor. Only two Democrats voted against the bill while Republicans voted against by a margin of better than two-to-one.
See the roll-call vote for details.
With only one vote in opposition, the Senate Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee voted to extend the state's hate crimes law to violence based on sexual orientation, gender and physical disability.
The law imposes stronger penalties that the standard assault law.
See our newspaper story for details.
Missouri's Senate has voted to re-affirm the state's ban on same-sex marriages.
The legislature had passed a few years ago a restriction that the state would recognize a marriage only between a man and a woman. But it had been struck down by the courts on a procedural issue unrelated to the marriage issue.
See our newspaper story for details.
Extended debate and arguments for a larger cut delayed Senate action on another tax-cut bill.
Earlier this month, efforts were put aside on an income tax cut because of repeated amendments to raise the size of the cut. On Tuesday, legislation to provide a tax break on the prescription drug purchases by the elderly was delayed.
Both measures remain pending before the Senate and can be brought back up for debate at any time.
See our radio story for details.
An extended debate over sex education delayed Senate action on legislation to require schools stress abstinence in sex education courses.
See our newspaper story for details.
A former speaker of Missouri's House said he was putting together a lawsuit to challange legislative term limits.
The lawsuit is being put together by St. Louis attorney Ken Rothman who has contacted some state legislators to see if they wanted to be parties in the suit.
The voter-approved restriction imposes an eight-year life-time ban on legislative service in a chamber. It begins affecting large groups of legislators in the year 2002.
See our newspaper story for details.
An ad hoc organization of business groups and highway-advocacy groups has proposed a package of tax cuts to finance more highway construction.
Included in the package would be a one-half cent sales tax increase.
The proposal would finance some, but not all, of the 15-year highway construction plan the Highways Department was forced to abandon due to insufficient funding.
See our package of radio stories for details.
The Missouri Catholic Conference has filed an application for clemency for a death row inmate scheduled to be executed on Wednesday.
See our newspaper story and radio story for details.