JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – 9 July 2026 — Earlier today, Governor Kehoe signed SB 1421, an omnibus criminal justice package that includes automated record sealing for eligible drug offenses. With this signing, approximately 200,000 Missourians with eligible records will finally see an end to a lifetime of collateral consequences. Under SB 1421, sealing of eligible...Lee mas

If you could ask someone running for office about affordable housing, food security, or community justice, what would you ask? That was the challenge for attendees at Empower Missouri’s June in-person coalition meetings. In early June, I braved the construction zones of I-70 to attend the three meetings in Columbia. Members of our three coalitions,...Lee mas

This August you’ll be able to vote in statewide primary elections to decide the party candidates for your area, as well as a few ballot issues. Now, my dad often skipped these elections, he wanted to let the party diehards work out for themselves who they thought best represented their issues. A more independent voter,...Lee mas

Hello everyone, I am GP Worley. I am excited to be joining the Empower Missouri team as the inaugural Charles Ellwood Graduate Fellow! As I start my position, I am wrapping up my Master of Social Work program at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, where I cultivated my...Lee mas

Last year, when Empower’s staff and board began discussions on how we wanted to mark our quasquicentennial (isn’t that a fun word?!) this year, there was one thing that I knew for sure– I wanted our celebrations to be deeply steeped in Empower’s history. One of the true joys of working at Empower is consistently...Lee mas

By now you might have already heard the news – Missouri has become the 14th state to pass Clean Slate legislation! SB 1421, an omnibus criminal justice bill, passed during the final weeks of the 2026 legislative session and is waiting on the Governor’s signature to officially become law. While only applicable to drug offenses,...Lee mas

Key housing programs are facing cuts as part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) budget process. The House Appropriations subcommittee released its HUD spending bill for fiscal year 2027 on May 20th and like last year, the committee adopted many of the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to housing programs while rejecting...Lee mas

As the Missouri legislative session ends, attention is turning back to Washington D.C., where decisions made this year could dramatically reshape how Missouri fights hunger and poverty. One of the biggest federal debates underway is the next Farm Bill. The Farm Bill, which is traditionally renewed every five years, is often described as the nation’s...Lee mas

The 2026 Missouri Legislative Session ended with drama – this time in a good way. Three key policies entered the final week as almost-passed…but not quite. Clean Slate, land banks improvements, and Food is Medicine legislation were all passed by at least one chamber by the end of April but had not yet fully cleared...Lee mas

Governor Kehoe and some Republican legislators are advancing a new tax plan for Missouri that boils down to swapping out Missouri’s income tax (currently capped at 4.7%) for a greatly expanded sales tax on the products and services Missourians purchase every day. Our partners at Missouri Budget Project estimate that over 80% of Missourians would pay more in...Lee mas