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

Legal scholars and housing advocates alike have been watching the CDC eviction moratorium closely. I’ll let the lawyers work their own theories on whether the court cases will end up supporting the moratorium or will overturn it because the CDC doesn’t have that type of authority. As for housing advocates, we know that keeping people...Read More

In early August, Saint Louis hosted the Racial Equity Summit. This year’s event was conducted via a virtual format and highlighted major inequities throughout our society, but it also offered timely discussions as to how we could all move forward. The summit included speakers such as Edgar Villanueva, Angela Davis, and Adrienne Maree Brown. In...Read More

Since the founding of America, our constitution has been an important guiding document for the country and each state. The Bill of Rights demonstrates a fundamental fairness that should apply to everyone within the justice system. While clearly there were some significant flaws, including that giant loophole which allowed for the enslavement of human beings,...Read More

Governor Parson’s decision to end the $300 federal unemployment assistance on June 12th, 2021 is an affront to Missouri workers and could prove harmful to the state’s economy. Ending the assistance, which has kept thousands of Missouri families afloat, would punish Missouri families who are already suffering through an economic downturn.  In Missouri, an estimated...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

It is the last week of Missouri’s legislative session, which brings a flurry of activity to Jefferson City, so our entire team is heading to the capitol to be nearby for final discussions and debates on key pieces of legislation. We’re keeping a very close eye on conference committee discussions on two key pieces of...Read More

(JEFFERSON CITY, MO)…Empower Missouri is celebrating the passage of legislation that will expand access to a time-sensitive HIV medication. Senator Greg Razer (D-Jackson County, Senate District 07) and Representative Phil Christofanelli (R-St. Peters, House District 105) introduced the legislation in their respective chambers, supported by Empower Missouri & the Missouri HIV Justice Coalition. The legislation...Read More