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

At Kids Win Missouri, we envision a state where all children have the opportunity to be healthy, happy, and successful. That’s why we supported Medicaid expansion on the ballot last August – because we know that by expanding Medicaid in our state, Missouri’s kids will win BIG. Although expansion is targeted to uninsured adults, research...Read More

Next Monday, health-related committees in both the Missouri House & Senate will hear testimony on nearly identical bills to significantly modernize our state’s HIV criminalization laws.  For the last three years, Empower Missouri has been home to the Missouri HIV Justice Coalition. This coalition is led by People Living with HIV (PLHIV), their service providers,...Read More

Below is the testimony that Smart Sentencing Coalition member Kenya Brumfield Young presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 22, 2021 about the passage of Senate Bill 60. Senate Bill 60 puts into place new policies that aim to increase police accountability and build trust between police and the communities they serve. Empower Missouri...Read More

While Missouri hasn’t had a unified plan to tamp down the spread of COVID-19 in our state, municipalities have put in place many different response strategies. From mask ‘suggestions’ all the way to strict stay at home orders and shuttering of non-essential businesses, all of us have been impacted by the pandemic and response in...Read More

Missouri lawmakers returned to the Capitol in Jefferson City on January 6th with challenges posed by an ongoing pandemic. The Missouri legislative session began at noon last Wednesday with a new General Assembly; eleven newly-elected Senators and six returning Senators were sworn into office. In the house, 161 Representatives took the oath of office. With...Read More

As always, the happenings in Jefferson City these past two months have been full of twists, turns and surprises. And it is not over yet, so keep taking those motion sickness pills! It all began back on July 15, 2020, when Governor Parson issued a proclamation to convene an Extraordinary Session on Violent Crime. Thus,...Read More