Sen.-elect Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, has pre-filed a bill that would charge trucking companies $1,800 to haul a container of radioactive wastes through the state and $1,300 for every load transported via rail. The money would be used to reimburse the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which, by law, [...]
The state will move its virtual school operation to the University of Missouri campus, bringing as many as 50 new jobs to the area.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced today that it has enlisted the University of Missouri’s eMINTS National Center to manage the Missouri Virtual [...]
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill will serve as an honorary co-chair for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama’s and Vice President-elect Joe Biden.
In a prepared statement, McCaskill said she’s excited to “be part of this important historical day for our country.”
Other honorary co-chairs include Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. [...]
Gov.-elect Jay Nixon today outlined steps to put Missourians back to work and improve the state’s economy.
Specifics of the so-called Show Me JOBS initiative include:
• Provide low-interest loans specifically for small businesses. The Missouri Development Finance Board will develop a low-cost, direct-loan program specifically for small businesses. Funding [...]
UM administrators warned that state budget cuts would hurt Missouri's economy and health care services, Jenna Youngs reports today.
From her story:
To demonstrate how dire a budget cut for the UM System could be, the report shows that a loss in state support of 15 to 25 percent [...]
It looks as though Missouri's two-year-old bicycle tour will roll through Missouri next year despite gloomy budget forecasts.
Columbia wants to be a stop, but convention and visitors bureau director Lorah Steiner isn't so sure the community can afford to host the end of a race. She submitted a [...]
Gov.-elect Jay Nixon plans to appoint Karen Mitchell of Columbia to serve as director of Missouri’s Department of Revenue.
Mitchell has spent the past 16 years working as the state’s chief deputy attorney general under Nixon in his current office.
“During these challenging economic times, we must have a [...]
U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof, who leaves office next month, is working with the IRS to resolve a tax dispute.
The Internal Revenue Service filed a notice of a federal tax lien against Hulshof for nonpayment of $1,849 in taxes during the period ending Dec. 31, 2006. The notice was [...]
Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, held a conference call with reporters today to announce Senate Republicans and Gov.-elect Jay Nixon share a no-new-tax goal.
In a news release prior to the call, Shields said four core goals for the next session are:
"Absolutely no new job-killing taxes Creating jobs A [...]
U.S. Rep.-elect Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, has filled four senior staff positions in the Ninth Congressional District.
Working out of the Columbia-based district headquarters:
Gary Marble, deputy chief of staff, a former state representative and president of Associated Industries of Missouril; and
Paul Sloca, Luetkemeyer’s campaign spokesman-turned-press secretary. Sloca previously served [...]
Gov.-elect Jay Nixon plans to nominate George A. Lombardi, of Jefferson City as director of the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Lombardi, 61, retired in 2005 as director of adult institutions for the department, a position that oversaw 21 adult correctional facilities.
During his 33-year career with the department, "Lombardi [...]
Ninth District Rep. Kenny Hulshof's wife, Renee, has a new gig.
Effective Jan. 5, 2009 -- the same day Hulshof leaves office -- she becomes the new conservative voice opposite Simon Rose on KFRU's Morning Meeting program.
As you know, Kenny Hulshof, a Republican, lost his gubernatorial bid last [...]
Sometimes, there ought'a not be a law, Rep. Sara Lampe has discovered.
Lampe, D-Springfield, today is filing a bill to repeal state statutes from the late 1800s that make fake butter a crime if it is yellow or if the container doesn’t clearly state “substitute for butter” in lettering at least [...]
Gov. Matt Blunt was in Columbia today to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the beginning of the Rock Island Trail-Katy Connector project from Windsor to Pleasant Hill which connects the Katy Trail to the Kansas City area.
“Missouri’s Katy Trail State Park helps to highlight the scenic beauty of our [...]
Gov.-elect Jay Nixon this morning outlined a plan to bid out all of the state's license offices.
Ultimately, he wants that to result in more efficient operations and a friendlier process when you and I have to register a vehicle or renew our license plates. Any transition might require temporary office [...]
I will begin covering state issues on a full-time basis next month. In the meantime, I'm still juggling school stories, so I apologize in advance that this blog won't be updated as frequently as you might like.
That said, this is a perfect time for readers to give me some input [...]
Bring your own baklava to Gov.-elect Jay Nixon's inaugural bash. Or bread pudding. Or banana cream pie, if you wish.
Nixon has announced that he'll hold a potluck dinner after his swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 12. From the AP:
Nixon's campaign committee plans to provide the hamburgers, potato salad, cole slaw, chips [...]
When is a layoff not really a layoff?
I asked former Sen. Wayne Goode, Gov.-elect Jay Nixon's transition budget director, about potential state layoffs earlier this month after he told reporters the state is short some $340 million this year.
"From what I’ve seen, that’s not part of the plan," Goode [...]
House Minority Leader Paul LaVota tapped Rep.-elect Stephen Webber and Rep. Paul Quinn to serve on a new House Democratic Campaign Committee.
The group is focused on getting more Democrats elected to the House in 2010. “The new committee is composed of some of the sharpest people I have ever worked [...]
Remember all of those people with clipboards camped outside of the post office and courthouse asking you if you're a registered voter?
They'll be back.
Before ink is even dry on official results from the November 2008 election, one group is already gearing up to ask voters in 2010 to [...]
While I'm wrapping up duties on Columbia's education beat, veteran statehouse reporter and Trib Projects Editor Terry Ganey is helping keep tabs on political issues.
Today he reports that Blaine Luetkemeyer financed most of his race against Rep. Judy Baker for the Ninth Congressional District seat with his own money.
From the [...]
