In November Empower Missouri will host its annual Anti-Poverty Advocates Summit, bringing together advocates from across the state to explore the many ways poverty impacts our neighbors’ lives, and how effective policy change can serve as a long-term solution. We’re excited to welcome Annie Watson to open the Summit with our morning keynote! About Annie...Lee mas

Approximately 3.7 million people in the United States are on community supervision (probation or parole, also referred to as community corrections), which is nearly double the number of people who are incarcerated in prison or jail. Despite the large number of people on supervision, the many problems associated with parole and probation do not receive...Lee mas

Yesterday evening, Governor Parson vetoed SB 189, a criminal justice omnibus bill that included a number of provisions that Empower Missouri worked on last session.  You can read his veto statement here. This was the only bill passed during the 2023 legislative session to be vetoed by the governor.  We are deeply disappointed in this...Lee mas

In my years at Empower Missouri I have often heard from nonprofit staff at all levels that they know that policy change is integral to ending poverty, but also that they struggle to engage in it. Not-for-profit organizations are often functioning above their actual capacity with direct service work and other funded programming, and building...Lee mas

How much would a person have to earn to afford rent and utilities on a modest 2 bedroom apartment in Missouri today? According to this year’s Out of Reach Report, released by our partners at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Missouri’s average fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $964 a month. Working...Lee mas

Empower Missouri often describes itself as the oldest and largest anti-poverty organization in Missouri. We have over 120 years working on legislative policy change, and a network of thousands of community members across the state working to advance evidence based public policy to end poverty. In those years, we’ve had exciting wins and faced difficult...Lee mas

The 2023 legislative session will end today at 6PM, so there’s only a few hours remaining for the legislature to pass any final bills before the clock runs out.  There will be several opportunities over the next week to debrief the session with Empower Missouri.  On Monday, look for a special email with our end-of-session...Lee mas

Missouri is short of nearly 115,000 affordable and available housing units needed to meet the housing needs of Extremely Low Income Missouri families. Of these 115,000 ELI households, the overwhelming majority, 85%, consist of workers, individuals with disabilities and seniors. These vulnerable households often need to pick between keeping the lights on, keeping their household...Lee mas

We’re headed into the final two weeks of Missouri’s legislative session, which means that legislators from every corner of the state are in a mad dash to amend their bills onto any related piece of legislation that is moving. More than 2,200 pieces of legislation were filed this session across both chambers, and with ten...Lee mas

With just four weeks to go in Missouri’s legislative session, our Senators and Representatives are hard at work debating legislation that could have long-term consequences for all Missourians. Many of these bills have had the benefit of long committee hearings, with many folks traveling from around the state to speak with their legislators about the...Lee mas