America is in the midst of an epidemic. Rising home prices has increased the prices of rental properties, creating a general lack of affordable housing in this country. Historically, it has been argued that Americans should not spend more than 30% of their income on rent or mortgage and utilities. However, according to Harvard’s Joint...Lee mas

Just a few weeks into the new school year, many families are learning that after two years of all Missouri public school children receiving free school lunches, the School Lunch Program has returned to pre-pandemic form. Back in March of 2020, many Federal child nutrition waivers were offered as a form of COVID-19 relief. These...Lee mas

The governor has called a special session next week for the legislature to debate the largest income tax cut in Missouri’s history. The governor’s proposal would:  Reduce the top rate of income tax from the current 5.3% to 4.8%. Increase the standard deduction by $2,000 for single filers and $4,000 for joint filers. Eliminate the...Lee mas

Over the last six weeks, we have described Missouri’s practice of outsourcing probation and supervision services to private businesses and introduced why it is a problem and why we seek to make this a priority. For another brief summary of the issue, Human Rights Watch produced a short video describing how for-profit companies impact us....Lee mas

This past spring, as the school year was winding down, nonprofits across the country began working on plans to implement their summer feeding programs for kids. Planning was harder than usual though, as nonprofits were unsure what this summer would look like. The waivers that were put into place in March 2020 in light of...Lee mas

In part one of this series, we provided a brief introduction to the concept of private probation – the practice of outsourcing probation services for minor and low-level offenses to private businesses. In the second part of this series, we will explore  the issue in more depth, and answer two questions: how serious is the...Lee mas

At Empower Missouri, we know that we can change lives through effective and targeted policy change. Too many of our neighbors struggle to get their everyday needs met. Housing insecurity, hunger, over policing, historical exclusion: these negative outcomes we see today are a result of intentional, targeted, often racist policy decisions made generations ago. We...Lee mas

While the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in financial instability and economic hardship for many households, unprecedented supports – including a national emergency rental assistance program and eviction moratorium – were enacted to reduce suffering among the country’s lowest-income renters. As these temporary supports come to an end, renters are facing a troubling landscape, with rising rental...Lee mas

Empower Missouri is an organization with a storied history and deep roots in Missouri.  Founded in 1901, we’ve been advocating for the people of this state for over 120 years.  The organization has operated under four different names, under at least a dozen Executive Directors, and through the leadership of hundreds of board members and...Lee mas

Members of Empower Missouri’s Criminal Justice Coalition have been discussing Missouri’s use of private probation and the impact on our communities. Missouri is one of about nine others who have outsourced probation services. In conversation with family and friends,  we realized there are a lot of us who have never heard of the practice. This...Lee mas