Inside Missouri Politics

• Long has best name ID in new 7th District congressional race poll

  Springfield auctioneer Billy Long has the best name identification among the crowded field of Republican candidates vying to replace Rep. Roy Blunt in Congress next year, according to a new poll released today. [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 11:34am EST
  

• Nixon gets tuition freeze deal with community colleges

  For the second year in a row, students at Ozarks Technical Community College will not see their tuition increase under a deal Gov. Jay Nixon has struck with Missouri's 12 community colleges in exchange for a modest cut in state funding. [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 9:52am EST
  

• Media barred from Palin's Dec. 2 speech at College of the Ozarks

  As part of her contract, the news media will be barred from covering former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's Dec. 2 speech at College of the Ozarks in Hollister. [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 4:12pm EST
  

• Details set for Sarah Palin's Dec. 2 book signing at Borders in Springfield

  Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will autograph copies of her new biography "Going Rogue" on Dec. 2 at Borders Bookstore in Springfield. [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 2:37pm EST
  

• Missouri unemployment rate dips slightly to 9.3 percent

  Missouri's unemployment rate dropped slightly last month as a few thousand more people gained jobs. [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 12:14pm EST
  

• Conservation group keeps oil 'stain' TV ad targeting Blunt on the air

  The League of Conservation Voters is keeping a TV advertisement targeting U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt for his vote against the cap and trade legislation on the air through the end of the month. [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 11:26am EST
  

• Judge blocks Montee's attempt to audit LAGERS

  A Cole County judge has ruled State Auditor Susan Montee doesn't have the legal authority to audit LAGERS, the pension system for local government employees in Missouri.' [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 10:43am EST
  

• Koster: Extended auto warranty companies peddling bogus services

  Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster filed lawsuits Thursday against six companies that he says "are using fraudulent tactics to lure consumers into extended automobiles warranties of little to no value." [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 2:58pm EST
  

• Questions raised on former state lawmaker's finances

  Former state Rep. Talibdin "T.D." El-Amin who recently pleaded guilty to a bribery charge is again under scrutiny for allegedly collecting more money from the state for rent on his district office than what was paid. [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 2:12pm EST
  

• State lawmaker owes $20,000 for missed taxes

  A western Missouri lawmaker has said a rental property company he owns with his brother has not paid local taxes since he took office and now owes more than $20,000. [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 2:01pm EST
  

• Nixon says donated deer meat program expanding

  Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is announcing the expansion of a program that lets deer hunters share their venison with people in need of a meal. [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 12:28pm EST
  

• Richard wants hearings on response to false hostage report

  Speaker Ron Richard wants the House to hold hearings in January on the response to Tuesday's hostage scare in a Jefferson City office building near the governor's mansion. [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 5:54pm EST
  

• Carnahan excited, concerned about health care bill

  Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Robin Carnahan said Tuesday she is both excited and concerned about legislation passed by the House that would overhaul the nation's health care system. [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 8:47am EST
  

• Police surround office near Governor's Mansion for reported hostage situation

  Police have surrounded a Jefferson City office building near the Governor's Mansion and employees have been told to remain in their offices with the doors locked. [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 10:09am EST
  

• Nixon touts $266M in money for sewer, water infastructure

  Governor Jay Nixon was in Springfield this afternoon to announce an initiative to spend $266 million in state and federal dollars on wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects over the next three months. [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 1:59pm EST
  

• Politicians, groups react to passage of House health care bill

  Immediately following Saturday night's passage of health insurance reform in the U.S. House, Missouri politicians, candidates and special interest groups began issuing statements responding to the narrow 220-215 vote. [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 12:17pm EST
  

• VIDEO: Roy Blunt on the House floor during health care debate

  Click here to view video of Rep. Roy Blunt's speech on the House floor about the health care reform bill being debated tonight. [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 5:18pm EST
  

• DNR laying off 48 state parks workers

  The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has finalized its cost cutting plans in the Division of State Parks and Historic Sites, resulting in the layoffs of 48 employees and retirements of eight more. DNR officials say 77 other employees are transferring into different positions or taking pay cuts. [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 2:23pm EST
  

• Goodman campaign denies 'rumor' he's getting out of congressional race

  The congressional campaign of state Sen. Jack Goodman is dispelling what it calls a "rumor" that he might get out of the 2010 Republican primary to succeed Rep. Roy Blunt in the U.S. House. [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 6:17pm EST
  

• State tax revenues continue to slump

  Liquor taxes continue to be one of the state of Missouri's few revenue growth areas. The state's October tax revenue report shows a 10.8 percent drop in overall tax revenue during the first four months of the 2010 fiscal year, according to Governor Jay Nixon's budget office. [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 1:19pm EST
  

• Nixon announces $200M in additional budget cuts

  Gov. Jay Nixon cut an additional $204 million from Missouri's budget Wednesday and eliminated nearly 700 jobs in attempt to offset a continued decline in state tax revenues.' [...]
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  Posted: October 28, 2009, 1:45pm EDT
  

• State senator renews call for tax credit scrutiny

  On the same day Gov. Jay Nixon announced $200 million in additional mid-year budget cuts, a state senator has renewed his efforts to make tax credits subject to appropriations approval by the General Assembly. [...]
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  Posted: October 28, 2009, 10:35am EDT
  

• Schweich headed to Germany to train NATO officers

  Republican state auditor candidate Tom Schweich is taking a break from campaigning this week to train NATO officers in Germany on crime and corruption in Afghanistan. Schweich was a U.S. ambassador for counternarcotics and justice reform in Afghanistan during the Bush administration. [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 10:36pm EDT
  

• Senate Appropriations Committee schedules public hearings in December

  The state Senate Appropriations Committee has scheduled its annual hearings for public testimony on spending priorities at state agencies for Dec. 7 and Dec. 8 in the state Capitol in Jefferson City. [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 6:16pm EDT
  

• Ed Martin: State parks advisory board left in dark about DNR layoffs

  Ed Martin, the former chief of staff to Gov. Matt Blunt who resigned in the wake of the Blunt administration's e-mail retention controversy, has injected himself into the turmoil in Gov. Jay Nixon's embattled Department of Natural Resources. [...]
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  Posted: October 20, 2009, 2:17pm EDT
  

• Nixon reinstates suspended DNR director, drops Bindbeutel

  Governor Jay Nixon has reinstated the director of the Department of Natural Resources and withdrawn the nomination of the agency's former deputy director to a state commission for their roles in the Lake of the Ozarks E. coli controversy. [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2009, 10:53am EDT
  

• Bindbeutel's interview with Senate staff generates more questions

  The former Department of Natural Resources official at the center of the controversy surrounding the delayed release of E. coli tests has brought to light a new development not previously disclosed by himself, DNR or Gov. Jay Nixon's office. [...]
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  Posted: October 15, 2009, 4:58pm EDT
  

• Blunt raises more than Carnahan in campaign money race

  Republican U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt raised more campaign cash than Democratic U.S. Senate rival Robin Carnahan in third quarter, pulling in nearly $1.3 million in contributions compared to Carnahan's $1 million. [...]
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  Posted: October 15, 2009, 11:23am EDT
  

• Long has $405K for 7th District congressional bid

  Springfield auctioneer Billy Long raised $104,189 in the third quartering fundraising period for his Republican bid for Congress, leaving him with $405,162 in cash on hand as he ramps up a campaign for the 7th District nomination in August 2010. [...]
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  Posted: October 15, 2009, 6:00am EDT
  

• VP Joe Biden to visit St. Louis

  Vice President Joe Biden will be in St. Louis to discuss how federal money is being used to help create jobs and aid law enforcement. [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2009, 12:34pm EDT
  

• Senator urges Nixon to keep suspended DNR director sidelined

  The chair of a Senate committee probing why the Department of Natural Resources delayed releasing E. coli test results from Lake of the Ozarks this summer wants the suspended agency director to remain on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the committee's investigation. [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2009, 11:55am EDT
  

• Former DNR official regrets E. coli test delay

  The former deputy chief of Missouri's environmental agency says he regrets the delayed release of an E. coli report from the Lake of the Ozarks because the controversy has created suspicion toward the agency, but he maintains the wait did not risk public health. [...]
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  Posted: October 13, 2009, 8:16pm EDT
  

• Senate committee approves health care plan

  With support from a lone Republican, a key Senate committee Tuesday approved a middle-of-the-road health care plan that moves President Barack Obama's goal of wider and affordable coverage a giant step closer to becoming law. [...]
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  Posted: October 13, 2009, 2:18pm EDT
  

• Sowers raises $204K in bid to challenge Emerson

  Rolla Democrat Tommy Sowers says he raised $204,510 in his first quarter of fundraising in his bid to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson in 2010. [...]
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  Posted: October 13, 2009, 12:53pm EDT
  

• Skelton cusses out fellow Missouri lawmaker in House

  Show me some civility, Republicans cried Friday after a Missouri congressman speaking on the House floor was caught on microphone apparently cussing out a fellow Missourian. [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 4:09pm EDT
  

• Latest DNR tests show low E. coli at Lake of Ozarks

  Missouri officials say the final tests of the year found low levels of E. coli bacteria in the Lake of the Ozarks. [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 3:24pm EDT
  

• State borrows another $150 million from budget reserve

  The state of Missouri borrowed another $150 million from its budget reserve fund for cash flow purposes this morning, bringing this year's total borrowing to $350 million since the fiscal year began July 1.' [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 9:38am EDT
  

• Nixon appoints new Pulaski County treasurer

  Governor Jay Nixon today appointed Crocker resident Morris E. Roam as the new treasurer of Pulaski County. Roam, 65, replaces Barbara Thomas, who resigned from the position. [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2009, 5:15pm EDT
  

• Nodler wants to tap stimulus funds for Career Ladder program

  State Sen. Gary Nodler proposes the legislature use one-time federal economic stimulus money to pay for the popular Career Ladder supplemental pay program for public school teachers this year. [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2009, 3:42pm EDT
  

• Nixon appoints MSU official to state technology board

  Governor Jay Nixon has appointed two southwest Missouri residents to two different state boards. Missouri State University vice president James P. Baker was appointed to the Missouri Technology Corporation. [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 2:15pm EDT
  

• Report: Tour of Missouri needs fiscal policy guide

  The nonprofit group running the Tour of Missouri needs to improve its financial management of the $3.3 million bicycle race, according to an accountants' review released Monday.' [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 9:03am EDT
  

• New MoDOT video shows life cycle, cost of repairing highways

  The Missouri Department of Transportation has developed a computer-animated Web video showing the life cycle of a highway and how long-term costs far exceed the initial investment of new roads. [...]
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  Posted: October 05, 2009, 4:00pm EDT
  

• Nancy Pelosi in St. Louis for Russ Carnahan event

  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be in St. Louis Saturday to speak at Rep. Russ Carnahan's fundraiser at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel. [...]
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  Posted: October 02, 2009, 4:01pm EDT
  

• Nixon seeks to boost interest in state parks

  The number of people visiting Missouri's 83 state parks has steadily declined since 1999, and Gov. Jay Nixon is reaching out to tourism and business leaders around the state to try to boost attendance. [...]
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  Posted: October 02, 2009, 2:55pm EDT
  

• State tax revenue down 10 percent for current fiscal year

  Missouri's tax revenue for the 2010 fiscal year that began three months ago is down 10 percent from a year ago, according to new figures from Gov. Jay Nixon's budget office. [...]
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  Posted: October 02, 2009, 1:55pm EDT
  

• Nixon's approval rating at 51 percent

  Missouri Governor Jay Nixon's approval rating increased by one percentage point in the month of September, with 51 percent of 600 adults surveyed approving of his job as governor. [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2009, 6:56pm EDT