
By Jason Hancock | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning,
Missouri lawmakers are now in the final stretch of writing a state budget, and public schools are heading into those negotiations with a familiar problem: the numbers on paper do not match the money coming in.
Separately, Missouri’s only Title X grantee is back in the crosshairs in Washington, months after its funding was restored. And in Jefferson City, a long-running fight over intoxicating hemp products finally produced a bill-signing — with a legal fight likely next.

(Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)
by Rudi Keller
Lottery and casino tax revenue are falling short of expectations, leaving school districts with reduced payments as lawmakers build next year’s budget around funding sources that may prove uncertain.

(Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
by Anna Spoerre
Missouri’s only Title X grantee says Hawley’s accusations are misleading, warning that another fight over recently restored federal funding could threaten clinics serving uninsured and rural patients.

(Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)
by Rebecca Rivas
Gov. Mike Kehoe signed legislation aimed at removing THC seltzers and other intoxicating hemp products from Missouri shelves, but hemp businesses say a legal challenge is already being prepared.

(Photo by Lance Cheung/USDA)
COMMENTARY
by Melissa Weissler
After passing with overwhelming bipartisan approval in the Missouri House this month, the state Senate is poised to consider legislation that would provide healthy, locally grown food to Medicaid recipients with chronic diet-related illnesses.
NATIONAL HEADLINES
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