Missouri is "Southern"? Who Knew?!
Gov. Matt Blunt opened the three-day Southern Growth Conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at Union Station yesterday with a presentation on Southern workforce challenges. Blunt is the current chairman of the Southern Growth Policies Board.
That begs the question, “When did Missouri become [...]
Legislators Secure Jobs for Themselves
Call it taking care of their own. Or perhaps, an investment in their own futures. Whatever you call it, state legislators buried a nest egg in the controversial MoHELA bill signed into law last week.
Stuck in the center of the 52-page Senate Bill 389, which, among other things, took $350 million from the state’s college [...]
The Teachers Union vs. Jeff Smith
Keep up with St. Louis politics at www.pubdef.net
DIY: How to Hitch a Ride in the Senate
State Sen. Jeff Smith tells how he got his “Teach for Missouri” plan passed by the Republican legislature and signed by the Governor.
“The one thing that everybody agreed on was that nobody liked my whole package.”
But obviously some of his Democratic colleagues still feel betrayed.
Keep up with St. Louis politics at www.pubdef.net
Showing Love for Loudon
Senator John Loudon set off a firestorm last week when he used a, shall we say, “creative” tactic to get his legislation legalizing midwifery passed by the State Senate.
In the immediate aftermath, his colleagues from the other side of the aisle called him everything from a liar to other four-letter words not allowed on the [...]
Scenes from the Final Hours
Keep up with St. Louis politics at www.pubdef.net
For Better or Worse, Session Ends
This session of the Missouri Legislature wrapped up today at 6:00 in much the same way as it was conducted, with hard ball tactics by the majority and cries of foul from the minority.
After only being used a handful of times in the entire history of the Missouri Senate, the infamous “previous question” (or “PQ”) [...]
Abortion Bill Passes Senate
The Missouri Senate has passed a controversial bill that greatly changes the requirements for sexual education instruction in public schools, bans organizations that provide abortion services from distributing information in school, and establishes a program called the Missouri Alternatives to Abortion Services Program
In addition, the bill controversially changes the definition of “ambulatory surgical center” in [...]
Long Night Leads to Final Day
Keep up with St. Louis politics at www.pubdef.net
Smith Finds Republican Allies
JEFFERSON CITY — The freshman senator who once proclaimed on campaign literature that if the Republican leadership was for something, he was probably against it, has now found more support on the other side of the aisle than his own.
State Senator Jeff Smith spent much of the night lobbying members of the State House to [...]
