In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Gov. Jay Nixon said the state would not be able to comply with a departmental deadline for states to set up state-based health insurance exchanges through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

In the letter, Nixon referenced Proposition E, a measure passed in last week's election by Missouri voters that prohibits the establishment of a state-based insurance exchange.

Lawmakers tried to pass legislation in 2011 setting up a state-based exchange, but it never passed.

Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder said the legislature doesn't need to be in any hurry to set up a state-based exchange.

"The people of Missouri have twice been heard on this," Kinder said. "They have twice rendered a negative verdict on Obamacare in a super majority."

Missouri will face another deadline next February for states to decide whether or not to apply for a state-federal partnership exchange, but Nixon made no comment on what the legislature's next move might be when session begins on Jan. 9.

Missouri is one of 13 other states that have taken steps to reject the Affordable Care Act.

The Missouri Public Service Commission is looking to create a separate residential rate class with a lower rate specifically for low-income residents.

Kathleen Chitwood, who represents low-income residents like herself in Missouri, said the bad economy put her and many others she works with in a bind to pay for necessities like groceries and utilities. She serves as an alternative board member for the Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corporation.

Chitwood said this new rate class would directly benefit her and those she represents.

Rep. Darrel Pollock, R-Lebanon, said he doesn't see the new rate class as something the commission should be looking into. Pollock, who is the chairman of the House Committee on Utilities, said he opposes a new rate class because there are already programs and laws in place to help low-income residents.

Opponents are also concerned a cut in a rate class for low-income residents will mean a spike in rates for others. Missouri Public Service Commissioner Robert Kenney said other rates may rise, but they may not.

"The whole idea of rate design for utilities is so complex anyway that it's really an oversimplification to say 'well, if we set up a low income class then everyone is paying more,'" Kenney said.

In September the commission created a docket for stakeholders to comment on the possibility of the creation of a new rate class. It is currently reviewing and evaluating the responses. Kenney said the next step is to hold a face-to-face workshop of all the stakeholders to determine the best thing to do.

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For 137 years, it was legal to kill a Mormon in Missouri. The state's violent history with this religious group is far in the past, however.

Missouri voters selected Mitt Romney, a Mormon, in this year's presidential election.

The Mormons began moving to Jackson County after Joseph Smith pronounced Independence as the location of Zion. Conflict soon broke out on the frontier. Patrick Mason, author of the book "The Mormon Menace," said other white settlers were not fond of the theocratic politics, abolitionist sentiments and polygamy practices of the Mormon settlers.

Mason said Mormonism changed in the late nineteenth century to conform with American norms, as it gave up polygamy and its political party. Throughout the 20th century, Mason said Americans grew more tolerant of religious pluralism.

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 A surge in Chinese students is driving an increase in the overall number of international students attending colleges and universities in Missouri and across the country, a new study has found.

The survey, done by the Washington-based Institute of International Education, showed that Missouri ranks 13th in the number of enrolled international students with 16,061, a six percent increase from 2011, which mirrored the nationwide growth.

Peggy Blumenthal, a spokeswoman for the institution, said many of the students think an American education will better prepare them for jobs in an increasingly globalized economy.

"They think its worth the investment," Blumenthal said. "The kind of training they're going to get here in the states is going to give them a better chance at a really good career back in China or here in the states or wherever around the world that they decide to go."

More than 200,000 Chinese students came to the US for a college education last year, as did about 100,000 Indian students.

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Missouri's minimum wage will increase from $7.25 to $7.35 in 2013.

In 2006, Missouri voters approved a ballot measure that linked minimum wage to the cost of living.

"Not something as important as minimum wage," said Karen Buschman, spokeswoman for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce. "It shouldn't be tied to something that automatically increases."

Buschman said the high minimum wage will drive businesses, and the jobs they create, to Missouri's bordering states. Illinois is the only adjoining state with a minimum wage higher than $7.35.

"The last few years we have pursued legislation to try to disconnect the minimum wage from the mandates it is currently tied to," Buschman said. "We have been unsuccessful, but it will likely be part of our legislative priorities for the upcoming year."

Lara Granich, director of Missouri Jobs With Justice, said the fear that businesses will suddenly flock to bordering states is unfounded.

"All the research shows that that does not bear out. That's just a scare tactic in the public today to try to keep the minimum wage down," Granich said.

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The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a state law giving the state power over the city of St. Louis in residency requirements for firefighters.

Residency requirements are dictations of where a city employee must live.

The court ruled that because regulating residency requirements is not fixing the powers, the legislature can create laws about them.

"We're very disappointed. We really believe that personnel rules for city officials should be left up to the locally elected officials- it's a real local control issue," said Missouri Municipal League director Richard Sheets.

Sheets said he believes St. Louis and Kansas City are the only cities affected at the moment because they are the only charter cities with disaccredited schools this law applies to.

Dean Katerndahl, Mid-America Regional Council Director of Government Innovations said he doesn't think the Kansas City area will be affected greatly.

"The residency requirements by and large were put in decades ago," Katerndahl said.

Katerndahl adds that because Kansas City residency requirements cover such a large area of suburban and urban housing, he doesn't see a large change coming.

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The House Interim Committee on Government Bidding and Contracting met on Tuesday to discuss ways to better improve the process of government bidding.

Yet the meeting was at a stalemate after the director of the Department of Revenue refused to attend for the third time.

"She's refused to show up three times, and instead what she does is send persons within the department that can answer some factual questions but won't give any answers on how policy might be improved, and that's just unacceptable," said Rep. Jay Barnes R-Jefferson City.

Committee members said the department lacks a strict set of rules for which to be held accountable.

"If they do not have written specific rules to follow, how can anyone determine if their process is consistent," said committee chairman Rep. Sue Allen R-St. Louis County. "If anyone who loses a bid comes back, there could potentially be 183 lawsuits or more."

Committee members held the meeting to find ways to improve the process of bidding in Missouri, but without the presence of the director, they were unable to address policy.

Barnes said he expects the director to appear at a meeting in the future, but will exercise subpoena power if she does not.

"Representative Barnes indicated that the expectation is that the director will show up to one of our meetings," Allen said. "However, the speaker of the House has the power to subpoena someone, so that should happen."

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The Missouri Department of Economic Development released the State Jobs Report for Missouri from the month of October on Tuesday.

John Fougere, spokesman for the MDED, said payrolls added 13,000 new jobs for the month of October.

Missouri's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.9 percent. The rate has been lower than the national unemployment rate for 38 consecutive months

Fougere also said the Missouri labor force grew by nearly 10,000 people in October.

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