Since 1901, the pinnacle of Empower Missouri’s work each year has been its Annual Conference. In fact, for the first decade, that was the bulk of Empower Missouri’s (then called the Missouri State Conference on Charities & Corrections) work. Once a year, advocates gathered together to discuss the state of affairs in Missouri and make...Read More

Last week, the beleaguered Editorial Board of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published an opinion piece in reaction to a news story that 200 detainees facing federal charges have been bussed to out-of-state jails following the closure of the St. Louis Medium Security Institution, colloquially known as The Workhouse. The Editorial Board posits that these “inmates”...Read More

The Missouri legislature will return to Jefferson City at noon today for a special session called yesterday by Governor Mike Parson.  Here’s a quick rundown of what you need to know: Why did the Governor call a special session?  During the regular session, the legislature failed to reauthorize something called the Federal Reimbursement Allowance, better...Read More

It’s the third week of May, which means that you’re hearing crickets from hundreds of lobbyists and advocates across the state who are taking a much deserved break after working many late nights over the last three weeks as the Missouri legislature hurtled towards its inevitable close at 6PM last Friday night. Due to widening...Read More

The legislature is taking their annual Spring Break this week, which is widely considered to be “halftime” of the legislative session. We’ve spent the last few days reviewing our progress on all of our priority legislation this year and preparing for the sprint to the finish line when session begins next week.  Here’s a quick...Read More

Next Monday, health-related committees in both the Missouri House & Senate will hear testimony on nearly identical bills to significantly modernize our state’s HIV criminalization laws.  For the last three years, Empower Missouri has been home to the Missouri HIV Justice Coalition. This coalition is led by People Living with HIV (PLHIV), their service providers,...Read More