In over 120 years, Empower Missouri has advanced and passed many successful policies. One of the most impactful was a significant decrease in the food sales tax led by our Hunger Task Force back in 1999. Our leaders identified that issue because our task force members were keenly aware of how sales tax is an...Read More

This session, five bills have been filed pertaining to funding for the Kansas City Police Department.  For those who are not familiar with the issue, here’s a quick primer.  The Situation in KC Kansas City is the only municipality in Missouri that doesn’t currently have control of its own police department.  Under Missouri statute, the...Read More

Earlier this week, the Missouri Senate Economic Development Committee heard Senate Bill 790 which would provide state tax credits to grocery stores that open in food deserts across our state. According to USDA, a food desert is a low-income tract where a substantial number or substantial share of residents does not have easy access to...Read More

Matthew Desmond describes eviction as both a cause and a condition of poverty. What does that mean, and how should Missouri respond? First, it is important to understand that there are different forms of legal eviction in our state. If a tenant damages the property, breaks the law, or violates the lease (say, by having...Read More

In 2018, Missourians resoundingly passed a phased increase to the minimum wage to $12/hour over five years. When the bill passed, it was estimated that 600,000 Missourians would benefit from an increase in their wages, meaning that around 15 percent of Missouri adults were making the minimum wage.  The plan called for wages to rise...Read More

Beginning in January 2022, Empower Missouri is proud to announce that we’ll be joining The Right Time Initiative as a community mobilization partner.  The Right Time is a multi-year initiative, funded by Missouri Foundation for Health, that is based on the simple belief that everyone should have the opportunity to pursue the future they want,...Read More

There was a slight delay in Congress’ work on the Build Back Better legislation these past couple weeks because Congress had to pass a continuing resolution that would continue funding the federal government at current spending levels through February 18. The continuing resolution passed and was signed by President Biden last week so work can...Read More

For months, Empower Missouri and our allies in Missouri have been urging our federal representatives to pass the Build Back Better Act, an opportunity to make historic investments for our neighbors with low incomes. Last week, Congress passed what we hope to be a final version of the bill. It includes targeted investments to reduce...Read More

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

In June 2021, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office released data from its annual Vehicle Stops Report, which showed in 2020 black drivers were about 71% more likely to be stopped by police than white drivers in Missouri. The Attorney’s General Office has been collecting data on vehicle stops since 2000. Over the past several years,...Read More