The U.S. Senate will vote in December on a bill to extend subsidies for federal marketplace plans, but the fate of the bill is uncertain

BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rudi-keller/">RUDI KELLER</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/squinn/">Steph Quinn</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

Until last year, Roberta Ross-Fisher had never been in a hospital except to visit friends and family.

The self-employed higher education consultant from Franklin County was so diligent about cleaning her teeth she had a gum graft several years ago to repair where she overbrushed.

Then, on May 5, 2024, she received a phone call. She had cancer in her lower jaw.

She took time off work and underwent surgery to remove the cancer and reconstruct her mandible with bone from her fibula. Now in remission, she gets CT scans and sees her oncologist every few months.

“That’s non-negotiable, whether I have insurance or whether I don’t,” Ross-Fisher said.

What is also non-negotiable is the premium she’ll pay to remain in a health insurance plan she purchases through&nbsp;<a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/" target="_blank">the federal marketplace</a>. This year, it’s $295 per month. Next year, if Congress extends current subsidies, it will be $479.&nbsp;

And if the subsidies go away Jan. 1, the price will be $1,216 per month, a 312% increase.

It is enough to give her pause, despite needing cancer follow-up care. Ross-Fisher in 2026 will qualify for Medicare, the federal insurance program for older and disabled adults.

“I’ve been having conversations with my husband,” she said. “What do I do? I’m now a cancer patient. Do I risk going for six months without insurance?”

The conversation Ross-Fisher is having with her husband is the same one being held in thousands of households across Missouri.

The open enrollment period for Affordable Care Act plans opened Nov. 1 and ends Jan. 16. For some, the extra costs for 2026 will mean they go without coverage.&nbsp;

Others may look for alternatives, such as&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/05/16/lawmakers-approve-bill-exempting-missouri-farm-bureau-health-plans-from-federal-rules/">Missouri Farm Bureau</a>&nbsp;health coverage that does not qualify as an insurance plan under federal definitions. Backers promised it would be cheaper when lawmakers passed the law this year, but no one interested in buying into the plan will know if they will truly save money until it launches Jan. 1.

And the uncertainty makes financial planning more difficult for medical providers.

Care for people on marketplace plans represents about 2% of the revenue for University of Missouri Health Care, said Greg Damron, chief financial officer for MU Health Care in Columbia.&nbsp;

“That doesn’t sound like a lot,” Damron said, “but if you think about it, when you’re trying to get to a 4% margin or something, 2% of your revenues is kind of a big deal.”&nbsp;

For 43 days, Democrats in the U.S. Senate&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/government-reopens-after-43-days-trump-signs-bill-ending-record-shutdown" target="_blank">used the filibuster</a>&nbsp;to keep the federal government shut down in an effort to preserve the enhanced subsidies enacted as a&nbsp;<a href="https://source.washu.edu/2025/11/missouris-health-coverage-is-shifting-fast-washu-analysis-finds/" target="_blank">COVID-19 emergency measure</a>&nbsp;in 2021.&nbsp;

Under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the actual premiums paid by lower-income people purchasing individual health plans through the federal marketplace were capped as a share of their income. At the lowest end of the income scale, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-25.pdf" target="_blank">cap was 2.1%</a>, rising to 9.96% for people between three and four times the federal poverty level, or between&nbsp;<a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/dd73d4f00d8a819d10b2fdb70d254f7b/detailed-guidelines-2025.pdf" target="_blank">$46,950 and $62,600</a>&nbsp;for a single person.

The enhanced subsidies reduced those caps so people at the lowest end paid no out-of-pocket premiums and no person purchasing an individual plan&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-23-29.pdf" target="_blank">paid more than 8.5%</a>&nbsp;of their income.

The enhanced subsidies expire Dec. 31. The U.S. Senate will vote in December on a bill extending the subsidies, but there’s no promise of a similar vote in the U.S. House and no indication President Donald Trump would sign it if passed.

One result of the enhanced subsidies was dramatic growth in the number of Missourians covered by ACA plans at the same time&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-medicaid-enrollment-continues-decline-down-200000-since-last-june/">Medicaid enrollment declined</a>&nbsp;as eligibility reviews began following a freeze tied to the COVID-19 emergency.

In 83% of Missouri counties, an&nbsp;<a href="https://bpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.wustl.edu/dist/4/4348/files/2025/10/Changes-in-Medicaid-and-Marketplace-enrollment-in-Missouri-1.pdf" target="_blank">analysis from Washington University</a>&nbsp;shows, new enrollments in marketplace plans exceeded the decline in Medicaid enrollment.

“The rapid growth in marketplace enrollment likely was influenced by enhanced premium tax credits (EPTCs), which were passed in 2021 and significantly lowered the out-of-pocket premiums recipients pay for the marketplace plans,” the analysis states.&nbsp;

There are more than&nbsp;<a href="https://bpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.wustl.edu/dist/4/4348/files/2025/10/Changes-in-Medicaid-and-Marketplace-enrollment-in-Missouri-1.pdf" target="_blank">417,000 people in Missouri</a>&nbsp;covered by marketplace plans, up from 257,000 in 2023. Faced with&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/10/31/missouri-health-premiums-to-rise-as-much-as-30-for-2026-amid-uncertainty-over-subsidies/">double-digit increases</a>&nbsp;in base premiums and the loss of enhanced subsidies, many may drop health insurance entirely.

“Without that premium support, the belief out there is that it’s largely going to hit younger, lower-income people,” Damron said. “They’re likely going to be the folks that also decide to opt out of insurance coverage altogether.”

Small businesses that provide health insurance are also facing tough choices — whether to pass more costs to employees or stop offering coverage altogether, said Brad Jones, Missouri lobbyist for the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

The small group rates approved this fall by the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance show&nbsp;<a href="https://insurance.mo.gov/sites/insurance/files/2025-10/Public%20posting%20-%20Final%202026%20Rates.pdf" target="_blank">average increases of 10% to 19%</a>&nbsp;for 2026.

“For a business with seven or eight employees, it is like buying a suit off the rack,” Jones said. “They don’t have any negotiating power.”

For almost 40 years, the cost of health insurance has been No. 1 among the “10 most severe problems for small business owners” identified by the&nbsp;<a href="https://strgnfibcom.blob.core.windows.net/nfibcom/2024-Small-Business-Problems-Priorities.pdf" target="_blank">National Federation of Independent Businesses</a>.

Conducted every four years, the Small Business Problems and Priorities survey ranks 75 issues facing businesses with fewer than 100 employees. The cost of health insurance was cited as an issue by 41% of employers, more than 20 percentage points higher than the second problem on the list, the cost of inventory and supplies.

In 2000, the report shows, almost half of all small businesses offered health insurance, with an average annual cost of about $2,600 per employee. Now, with the average cost greater than $8,000 per employee, fewer than one in three small employers provide coverage.

“When premiums go up, there are hard decisions that have to be made,” Jones said. “Deductibles go up to keep costs down. There are a number of things businesses try to do and not drop it all together.”

The smallest businesses may not survive if owners decide to seek employment that provides health coverage, said Marie Murphree, executive director of the Kirksville Area Chamber of Commerce.

“We might start seeing some of those go away,” said Murphree, who estimated that a fifth of the about 300 businesses in her chamber are individual entrepreneurs.

Higher premiums could be especially damaging in rural areas, Murphree said, where “we already see businesses who struggle to recruit people.”&nbsp;

“Now one of the recruitment tools that you have,” she said, “you really can no longer offer, because it’s out of your ability to afford it.”

Rob Gilligan, president of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, said the “vast majority” of the chamber’s 800 members have 50 employees or less. While he said they’d like to offer insurance to employees, the cost can be “prohibitive” with fewer staff to share costs.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry offers an insurance plan to businesses with fewer than 50 employees allowing them to pool together to share risk and ideally get more competitive rates.

Gilligan said that while some small business owners have expressed that they will be looking at higher deductible plans in anticipation of much higher premiums this year, they’ve already had to adapt to rising insurance costs in recent years.

“You just know that the cost of health is one of those things that’s going to continue to rise,” said Gilligan, whose chamber offers insurance to its employees. “We just have to kind of know that every year we’re going to look at that as something that we need to plan for and adapt to.”

The Affordable Care Act mandates that every plan offered by an employer and every plan on the health care marketplace provide minimum essential coverage. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.healthinsurance.org/glossary/essential-health-benefits/" target="_blank">10 essential benefits</a>&nbsp;range from hospitalization and office visits to maternity care, mental health treatments and preventive tests.

This year, legislators passed a law allowing the Missouri Farm Bureau to offer coverage that does not include all 10 benefits.&nbsp;

Many farmers and other members of the Farm Bureau, proponents said, are uninsured because they can’t afford to buy an individual plan on the marketplace or make too much money to qualify for subsidies.

Members will be able to start buying plans on Jan. 2, with coverage set to begin Feb. 1, said Garrett Hawkins, president of the Farm Bureau. The website will be available starting Dec. 1, he said.

That will leave only about 15 days remaining in the open enrollment period for prospective purchasers to decide if they will sign up with the Farm Bureau, buy a marketplace plan or go without coverage.

Because prospective purchasers will choose from a menu of services, the price for each plan must be individually quoted, Hawkins said.

“We’re working feverishly to get the plan up and running,” Hawkins said, “but we’re just not quite there yet.”&nbsp;

The Farm Bureau is a nonprofit agricultural membership organization which partners with for-profit companies to sell various kinds of insurance to its members.&nbsp;

To buy Farm Bureau health coverage, a person has to be a member for 30 days. Anyone can join — the fee is $30 per year.

So far, Hawkins said, the new coverage does not seem to be driving an increase in membership. There are several hundred members who have indicated they are interested in getting a quote, he said.

Once the plan starts accepting applications, Hawkins said, there will be no “open enrollment” period. The coverage will be available for purchase at any time.

Hawkins has big ambitions for the coverage. Affordable health coverage can mean more people will stay in farming and pass their land on to a new generation.

“My goal is that this helps bring young people home to the farm,” Hawkins said. “My hope is it will allow a spouse to return home to the farm who is working off the farm solely to get benefits for the family.”

Ross-Fisher said the insurance plan she purchased on the federal marketplace established by the 2010 Affordable Care Act was a “godsend” during her cancer treatment.&nbsp;

And when her business suffered during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the enhanced premium tax credits passed by Congress in 2021 had kept insurance coverage within reach for her and her husband and allowed her to keep working for herself.

With those tax credits set to expire, Ross-Fisher is again considering giving up her business for a job with benefits.

Most people turning 65 are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/answers/medicare-and-medicaid/who-is-eligible-for-medicare/index.html" target="_blank">eligible for Medicare</a>, which has its own premiums for the various coverages offered. For Ross-Fisher, the nearness of her 65th birthday in 2026 makes it tempting to drop coverage.

And before her cancer, she said, she would have chanced those six months.&nbsp;

Now she’s leaning toward seeking full-time work.

“That would mean the end of my consulting business, which I dearly love,” she wrote in an email, “but under the circumstances I think it would be the most financially prudent thing to do.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1764511533908.jpg" alt="Image Pixaby" />
 <figcaption>Image Pixaby</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>The U.S. Senate will vote in December on a bill to extend subsidies for federal marketplace plans, but the fate of the bill is uncertain</h2>BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rudi-keller/">RUDI KELLER</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/squinn/">Steph Quinn</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>Until last year, Roberta Ross-Fisher had never been in a hospital except to visit friends and family.The self-employed higher education consultant from Franklin County was so diligent about cleaning her teeth she had a gum graft several years ago to repair where she overbrushed.Then, on May 5, 2024, she received a phone call. She had cancer in her lower jaw.She took time off work and underwent surgery to remove the cancer and reconstruct her mandible with bone from her fibula. Now in remission, she gets CT scans and sees her oncologist every few months.“That’s non-negotiable, whether I have insurance or whether I don’t,” Ross-Fisher said.What is also non-negotiable is the premium she’ll pay to remain in a health insurance plan she purchases through&nbsp;<a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/" target="_blank">the federal marketplace</a>. This year, it’s $295 per month. Next year, if Congress extends current subsidies, it will be $479.&nbsp;And if the subsidies go away Jan. 1, the price will be $1,216 per month, a 312% increase.It is enough to give her pause, despite needing cancer follow-up care. Ross-Fisher in 2026 will qualify for Medicare, the federal insurance program for older and disabled adults.“I’ve been having conversations with my husband,” she said. “What do I do? I’m now a cancer patient. Do I risk going for six months without insurance?”The conversation Ross-Fisher is having with her husband is the same one being held in thousands of households across Missouri.The open enrollment period for Affordable Care Act plans opened Nov. 1 and ends Jan. 16. For some, the extra costs for 2026 will mean they go without coverage.&nbsp;Others may look for alternatives, such as&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/05/16/lawmakers-approve-bill-exempting-missouri-farm-bureau-health-plans-from-federal-rules/">Missouri Farm Bureau</a>&nbsp;health coverage that does not qualify as an insurance plan under federal definitions. Backers promised it would be cheaper when lawmakers passed the law this year, but no one interested in buying into the plan will know if they will truly save money until it launches Jan. 1.And the uncertainty makes financial planning more difficult for medical providers.Care for people on marketplace plans represents about 2% of the revenue for University of Missouri Health Care, said Greg Damron, chief financial officer for MU Health Care in Columbia.&nbsp;“That doesn’t sound like a lot,” Damron said, “but if you think about it, when you’re trying to get to a 4% margin or something, 2% of your revenues is kind of a big deal.”&nbsp;<h2>Enhanced subsidies</h2>For 43 days, Democrats in the U.S. Senate&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/government-reopens-after-43-days-trump-signs-bill-ending-record-shutdown" target="_blank">used the filibuster</a>&nbsp;to keep the federal government shut down in an effort to preserve the enhanced subsidies enacted as a&nbsp;<a href="https://source.washu.edu/2025/11/missouris-health-coverage-is-shifting-fast-washu-analysis-finds/" target="_blank">COVID-19 emergency measure</a>&nbsp;in 2021.&nbsp;Under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the actual premiums paid by lower-income people purchasing individual health plans through the federal marketplace were capped as a share of their income. At the lowest end of the income scale, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-25.pdf" target="_blank">cap was 2.1%</a>, rising to 9.96% for people between three and four times the federal poverty level, or between&nbsp;<a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/dd73d4f00d8a819d10b2fdb70d254f7b/detailed-guidelines-2025.pdf" target="_blank">$46,950 and $62,600</a>&nbsp;for a single person.The enhanced subsidies reduced those caps so people at the lowest end paid no out-of-pocket premiums and no person purchasing an individual plan&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-23-29.pdf" target="_blank">paid more than 8.5%</a>&nbsp;of their income.The enhanced subsidies expire Dec. 31. The U.S. Senate will vote in December on a bill extending the subsidies, but there’s no promise of a similar vote in the U.S. House and no indication President Donald Trump would sign it if passed.One result of the enhanced subsidies was dramatic growth in the number of Missourians covered by ACA plans at the same time&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-medicaid-enrollment-continues-decline-down-200000-since-last-june/">Medicaid enrollment declined</a>&nbsp;as eligibility reviews began following a freeze tied to the COVID-19 emergency.In 83% of Missouri counties, an&nbsp;<a href="https://bpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.wustl.edu/dist/4/4348/files/2025/10/Changes-in-Medicaid-and-Marketplace-enrollment-in-Missouri-1.pdf" target="_blank">analysis from Washington University</a>&nbsp;shows, new enrollments in marketplace plans exceeded the decline in Medicaid enrollment.“The rapid growth in marketplace enrollment likely was influenced by enhanced premium tax credits (EPTCs), which were passed in 2021 and significantly lowered the out-of-pocket premiums recipients pay for the marketplace plans,” the analysis states.&nbsp;There are more than&nbsp;<a href="https://bpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.wustl.edu/dist/4/4348/files/2025/10/Changes-in-Medicaid-and-Marketplace-enrollment-in-Missouri-1.pdf" target="_blank">417,000 people in Missouri</a>&nbsp;covered by marketplace plans, up from 257,000 in 2023. Faced with&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/10/31/missouri-health-premiums-to-rise-as-much-as-30-for-2026-amid-uncertainty-over-subsidies/">double-digit increases</a>&nbsp;in base premiums and the loss of enhanced subsidies, many may drop health insurance entirely.“Without that premium support, the belief out there is that it’s largely going to hit younger, lower-income people,” Damron said. “They’re likely going to be the folks that also decide to opt out of insurance coverage altogether.”<h2>Small business worries</h2>Small businesses that provide health insurance are also facing tough choices — whether to pass more costs to employees or stop offering coverage altogether, said Brad Jones, Missouri lobbyist for the National Federation of Independent Businesses.The small group rates approved this fall by the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance show&nbsp;<a href="https://insurance.mo.gov/sites/insurance/files/2025-10/Public%20posting%20-%20Final%202026%20Rates.pdf" target="_blank">average increases of 10% to 19%</a>&nbsp;for 2026.“For a business with seven or eight employees, it is like buying a suit off the rack,” Jones said. “They don’t have any negotiating power.”For almost 40 years, the cost of health insurance has been No. 1 among the “10 most severe problems for small business owners” identified by the&nbsp;<a href="https://strgnfibcom.blob.core.windows.net/nfibcom/2024-Small-Business-Problems-Priorities.pdf" target="_blank">National Federation of Independent Businesses</a>.Conducted every four years, the Small Business Problems and Priorities survey ranks 75 issues facing businesses with fewer than 100 employees. The cost of health insurance was cited as an issue by 41% of employers, more than 20 percentage points higher than the second problem on the list, the cost of inventory and supplies.In 2000, the report shows, almost half of all small businesses offered health insurance, with an average annual cost of about $2,600 per employee. Now, with the average cost greater than $8,000 per employee, fewer than one in three small employers provide coverage.“When premiums go up, there are hard decisions that have to be made,” Jones said. “Deductibles go up to keep costs down. There are a number of things businesses try to do and not drop it all together.”The smallest businesses may not survive if owners decide to seek employment that provides health coverage, said Marie Murphree, executive director of the Kirksville Area Chamber of Commerce.“We might start seeing some of those go away,” said Murphree, who estimated that a fifth of the about 300 businesses in her chamber are individual entrepreneurs.Higher premiums could be especially damaging in rural areas, Murphree said, where “we already see businesses who struggle to recruit people.”&nbsp;“Now one of the recruitment tools that you have,” she said, “you really can no longer offer, because it’s out of your ability to afford it.”Rob Gilligan, president of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, said the “vast majority” of the chamber’s 800 members have 50 employees or less. While he said they’d like to offer insurance to employees, the cost can be “prohibitive” with fewer staff to share costs.The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry offers an insurance plan to businesses with fewer than 50 employees allowing them to pool together to share risk and ideally get more competitive rates.Gilligan said that while some small business owners have expressed that they will be looking at higher deductible plans in anticipation of much higher premiums this year, they’ve already had to adapt to rising insurance costs in recent years.“You just know that the cost of health is one of those things that’s going to continue to rise,” said Gilligan, whose chamber offers insurance to its employees. “We just have to kind of know that every year we’re going to look at that as something that we need to plan for and adapt to.”<h2>Farm Bureau alternative</h2>The Affordable Care Act mandates that every plan offered by an employer and every plan on the health care marketplace provide minimum essential coverage. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.healthinsurance.org/glossary/essential-health-benefits/" target="_blank">10 essential benefits</a>&nbsp;range from hospitalization and office visits to maternity care, mental health treatments and preventive tests.This year, legislators passed a law allowing the Missouri Farm Bureau to offer coverage that does not include all 10 benefits.&nbsp;Many farmers and other members of the Farm Bureau, proponents said, are uninsured because they can’t afford to buy an individual plan on the marketplace or make too much money to qualify for subsidies.Members will be able to start buying plans on Jan. 2, with coverage set to begin Feb. 1, said Garrett Hawkins, president of the Farm Bureau. The website will be available starting Dec. 1, he said.That will leave only about 15 days remaining in the open enrollment period for prospective purchasers to decide if they will sign up with the Farm Bureau, buy a marketplace plan or go without coverage.Because prospective purchasers will choose from a menu of services, the price for each plan must be individually quoted, Hawkins said.“We’re working feverishly to get the plan up and running,” Hawkins said, “but we’re just not quite there yet.”&nbsp;The Farm Bureau is a nonprofit agricultural membership organization which partners with for-profit companies to sell various kinds of insurance to its members.&nbsp;To buy Farm Bureau health coverage, a person has to be a member for 30 days. Anyone can join — the fee is $30 per year.So far, Hawkins said, the new coverage does not seem to be driving an increase in membership. There are several hundred members who have indicated they are interested in getting a quote, he said.Once the plan starts accepting applications, Hawkins said, there will be no “open enrollment” period. The coverage will be available for purchase at any time.Hawkins has big ambitions for the coverage. Affordable health coverage can mean more people will stay in farming and pass their land on to a new generation.“My goal is that this helps bring young people home to the farm,” Hawkins said. “My hope is it will allow a spouse to return home to the farm who is working off the farm solely to get benefits for the family.”<h2>A tough choice</h2>Ross-Fisher said the insurance plan she purchased on the federal marketplace established by the 2010 Affordable Care Act was a “godsend” during her cancer treatment.&nbsp;And when her business suffered during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the enhanced premium tax credits passed by Congress in 2021 had kept insurance coverage within reach for her and her husband and allowed her to keep working for herself.With those tax credits set to expire, Ross-Fisher is again considering giving up her business for a job with benefits.Most people turning 65 are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/answers/medicare-and-medicaid/who-is-eligible-for-medicare/index.html" target="_blank">eligible for Medicare</a>, which has its own premiums for the various coverages offered. For Ross-Fisher, the nearness of her 65th birthday in 2026 makes it tempting to drop coverage.And before her cancer, she said, she would have chanced those six months.&nbsp;Now she’s leaning toward seeking full-time work.“That would mean the end of my consulting business, which I dearly love,” she wrote in an email, “but under the circumstances I think it would be the most financially prudent thing to do.”

Missourians brace for health insurance premium spikes with federal subsidies set to expire

DAVIESS COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just after 10:30a.m. Saturday in Daviess County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by a 79-year-old Jamesport man was southbound on Route J just south of Kidder. The driver lost control on the snow and ice covered road. The Jeep traveled off the west side of the road, struck an embankment, a mailbox and overturned.

Daviess County EMS transported the driver to Cameron Regional Medial Center. He was properly restrained, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

DAVIESS COUNTY —One person was injured in an accident just after 10:30a.m. Saturday in Daviess County.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by a 79-year-old Jamesport man was southbound on Route J just south of Kidder. The driver lost control on the snow and ice covered road. The Jeep traveled off the west side of the road, struck an embankment, a mailbox and overturned.Daviess County EMS transported the driver to Cameron Regional Medial Center. He was properly restrained, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

Mo. man injured after Jeep overturns on snowy road

The state is asking U.S. District Judge Zachary Bluestone to block People Not Politicians from turning in petitions by Dec. 11. People Not Politicians asked him to dismiss the case

BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rudi-keller/">RUDI KELLER</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

ST. LOUIS — A federal judge promised Tuesday that he would decide whether or not to block a referendum on Missouri’s gerrymandered redistricting map before petitions to force a vote are submitted.

The state is asking U.S. District Judge Zachary Bluestone, a recent Trump appointee, to declare the U.S. Constitution precludes any popular effort to overturn the new map that was&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/12/gerrymandered-congressional-map-initiative-petitions-limits-sent-to-missouri-governor/">muscled through by Republicans</a>&nbsp;in a September special session. People Not Politicians, a political action committee that has until Dec. 11 to submit enough signatures to force a vote on the map, wants Bluestone to dismiss the case and leave it to&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/25/let-the-courts-decide-kehoe-says-he-will-sign-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map/">state courts to sort out</a>.

Told in court that the signatures would be turned in Dec. 9, Bluestone said he would have a decision by that date.

Using the new map, Republicans hope to win seven of the state’s eight congressional seats by adding enough GOP votes to flip the 5th District, currently held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. It is part of a national battle over drawing new lines begun when President Donald Trump pushed Texas to redistrict to win five new GOP seats in the narrowly divided Congress.

The case is one of eight — two in federal court and six in state court — that wrap the redistricting plan in multiple layers of litigation. One,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/11/12/judge-hears-arguments-over-legality-of-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map/">argued Nov. 12 in Cole County</a>&nbsp;and challenging the constitutionality of redistricting when there is no new census data, is awaiting a decision from Circuit Judge Christopher LImbaugh.

The latest lawsuit was filed Nov. 11 by&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/11/21/lawsuit-details-alleged-scheme-to-sabotage-referendum-on-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map/">Advanced Micro Targeting</a>, the company gathering signatures for People Not Politicians, accusing competitors of “poaching” employees and “gathering intelligence” on its operations.

In the case before Bluestone, the state argues the federal constitution directs state legislatures to determine the boundaries of congressional districts. And without a clear statement in the Missouri Constitution’s&nbsp;<a href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=III++++52(a)&amp;bid=31810&amp;constit=y" target="_blank">referendum clause</a>&nbsp;allowing votes on redistricting&nbsp; plans, it is prohibited.

Lou Capozzi, state solicitor general, told Bluestone that he should intervene because the people are trying to infringe on the prerogatives of the General Assembly and it is costing the state money and employee time to process the referendum.

“From start to finish, the defendants’ actions impose significant burdens,” he said.

Jessica Amunson, representing People Not Politicians, said the costs are just employees in three state offices — secretary of state, attorney general and state auditor — doing their jobs. And future costs, for verifying signatures and an election, are speculative because the petitions have not been submitted yet.

The case, she said, is unprecedented. The plaintiffs — the General Assembly and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins — “are suing their own citizens to prevent them from petitioning their government.”

There are very few court precedents on the question of whether citizen referendum power extends to congressional district maps. Missouri voters rejected a redistricting plan in a 1922 referendum but that vote produced no guiding legal cases.

The attorneys did argue over the meaning of a&nbsp;<a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/241/565/" target="_blank">1916 U.S. Supreme Court decision</a>&nbsp;in an Ohio case that found a referendum on a redistricting plan was a constitutional use of the power.&nbsp;

Capozzi said the courts found the Ohio Constitution had a “clear statement” granting the power.&nbsp;

Amunson disagreed. The Ohio referendum power is essentially the same as Missouri, allowing “any law” to be subject to a vote while Missouri says “any act” passed by lawmakers can be sent to a vote.

“In none of those cases was there a clear statement rule required,” she said.

Bluestone seemed more skeptical of Amunson’s arguments at times than Capozzi, but directed pointed questioning to both.

While he promised a decision by Dec. 9, at the beginning of the hearing he said the decision may be to hold the case without acting while other lawsuits play out in state court.&nbsp;

In state court, Missouri is defending the redistricting plan by arguing the inverse of the argument in federal court —&nbsp; the absence of words granting or barring lawmakers authority to revise district lines between census reports means it is allowed. Before Bluestone, the state is arguing that the absence of words granting or barring petitioners from seeking a referendum means it is not allowed.&nbsp;

Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, said after the hearing that he’s not surprised by the apparent contradiction.

“What I saw in the hearing was, frankly, clarity from the state about how afraid they are of voters getting the final say on this,” von Glahn said. “If you think what you did is a good thing, you have nothing to fear from a referendum.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/9/1757444658128.png" alt="Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors / Map by Anna Sago " />
 <figcaption>Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors / Map by Anna Sago </figcaption>
 </figure><h2>The state is asking U.S. District Judge Zachary Bluestone to block People Not Politicians from turning in petitions by Dec. 11. People Not Politicians asked him to dismiss the case</h2>BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rudi-keller/">RUDI KELLER</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>ST. LOUIS — A federal judge promised Tuesday that he would decide whether or not to block a referendum on Missouri’s gerrymandered redistricting map before petitions to force a vote are submitted.The state is asking U.S. District Judge Zachary Bluestone, a recent Trump appointee, to declare the U.S. Constitution precludes any popular effort to overturn the new map that was&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/12/gerrymandered-congressional-map-initiative-petitions-limits-sent-to-missouri-governor/">muscled through by Republicans</a>&nbsp;in a September special session. People Not Politicians, a political action committee that has until Dec. 11 to submit enough signatures to force a vote on the map, wants Bluestone to dismiss the case and leave it to&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/09/25/let-the-courts-decide-kehoe-says-he-will-sign-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map/">state courts to sort out</a>.Told in court that the signatures would be turned in Dec. 9, Bluestone said he would have a decision by that date.Using the new map, Republicans hope to win seven of the state’s eight congressional seats by adding enough GOP votes to flip the 5th District, currently held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. It is part of a national battle over drawing new lines begun when President Donald Trump pushed Texas to redistrict to win five new GOP seats in the narrowly divided Congress.The case is one of eight — two in federal court and six in state court — that wrap the redistricting plan in multiple layers of litigation. One,&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/11/12/judge-hears-arguments-over-legality-of-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map/">argued Nov. 12 in Cole County</a>&nbsp;and challenging the constitutionality of redistricting when there is no new census data, is awaiting a decision from Circuit Judge Christopher LImbaugh.The latest lawsuit was filed Nov. 11 by&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/11/21/lawsuit-details-alleged-scheme-to-sabotage-referendum-on-gerrymandered-missouri-congressional-map/">Advanced Micro Targeting</a>, the company gathering signatures for People Not Politicians, accusing competitors of “poaching” employees and “gathering intelligence” on its operations.In the case before Bluestone, the state argues the federal constitution directs state legislatures to determine the boundaries of congressional districts. And without a clear statement in the Missouri Constitution’s&nbsp;<a href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=III++++52(a)&amp;bid=31810&amp;constit=y" target="_blank">referendum clause</a>&nbsp;allowing votes on redistricting&nbsp; plans, it is prohibited.Lou Capozzi, state solicitor general, told Bluestone that he should intervene because the people are trying to infringe on the prerogatives of the General Assembly and it is costing the state money and employee time to process the referendum.“From start to finish, the defendants’ actions impose significant burdens,” he said.Jessica Amunson, representing People Not Politicians, said the costs are just employees in three state offices — secretary of state, attorney general and state auditor — doing their jobs. And future costs, for verifying signatures and an election, are speculative because the petitions have not been submitted yet.The case, she said, is unprecedented. The plaintiffs — the General Assembly and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins — “are suing their own citizens to prevent them from petitioning their government.”There are very few court precedents on the question of whether citizen referendum power extends to congressional district maps. Missouri voters rejected a redistricting plan in a 1922 referendum but that vote produced no guiding legal cases.The attorneys did argue over the meaning of a&nbsp;<a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/241/565/" target="_blank">1916 U.S. Supreme Court decision</a>&nbsp;in an Ohio case that found a referendum on a redistricting plan was a constitutional use of the power.&nbsp;Capozzi said the courts found the Ohio Constitution had a “clear statement” granting the power.&nbsp;Amunson disagreed. The Ohio referendum power is essentially the same as Missouri, allowing “any law” to be subject to a vote while Missouri says “any act” passed by lawmakers can be sent to a vote.“In none of those cases was there a clear statement rule required,” she said.Bluestone seemed more skeptical of Amunson’s arguments at times than Capozzi, but directed pointed questioning to both.While he promised a decision by Dec. 9, at the beginning of the hearing he said the decision may be to hold the case without acting while other lawsuits play out in state court.&nbsp;In state court, Missouri is defending the redistricting plan by arguing the inverse of the argument in federal court —&nbsp; the absence of words granting or barring lawmakers authority to revise district lines between census reports means it is allowed. Before Bluestone, the state is arguing that the absence of words granting or barring petitioners from seeking a referendum means it is not allowed.&nbsp;Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, said after the hearing that he’s not surprised by the apparent contradiction.“What I saw in the hearing was, frankly, clarity from the state about how afraid they are of voters getting the final say on this,” von Glahn said. “If you think what you did is a good thing, you have nothing to fear from a referendum.”

Federal ruling on Missouri gerrymandered redistricting plan to come in early December

President Trump plans to pay bonuses to
air traffic controllers who had perfect attendance during the federal
government shutdown and has threatened docking the pay of those who didn’t.

Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves,
the House Transportation Committee chair, says he understands the president’s
frustration, but is hesitant to endorse punishing controllers who called in
sick during the shutdown.

“The problem with something like that is
that you really don’t know the circumstances, the folks, that may not be
eligible for these bonuses,” Graves tells KFEQ. “They may have
actually been sick.”

Graves says air traffic controllers have
a high-stress job and not getting paid during the shutdown didn’t help.

“You know, we’ve got to be careful,
because you just don’t know what the circumstances are,” Graves says.

Graves says a high stress job became even
more stressful during the federal government shutdown as air traffic
controllers had to come to work without getting a paycheck.

“You also can’t fault somebody who’s
trying to make a car payment and a mortgage payment. You don’t know what the
personal circumstance is and they had to go out and get another job for the
time being to try to make ends meet,” Graves says. “I can see both sides of
this to be quite honest with you. I can absolutely see both sides of this.”

Graves says you cannot dismiss the
worries that pile up when the bills come due.

“Whether that’s a car payment or a
mortgage payment or whatever your obligation may be and not getting paid for
two pay cycles. That creates even more stress and more hardship and it just
makes it worse,” according to Graves. “ I think it’s very hard for most folks
to really understand the true gravity of what took place.”

The Trump administration has announced it
will give a bonus to air traffic controllers who had perfect attendance during
the shutdown. Those who came to work each day of the shutdown will receive $10,000
bonuses.

You can follow&nbsp;Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1764341272423.jpeg" alt="Congressman Sam Graves/file photo" />
 <figcaption>Congressman Sam Graves/file photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRENT MARTINPresident Trump plans to pay bonuses to
air traffic controllers who had perfect attendance during the federal
government shutdown and has threatened docking the pay of those who didn’t.Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves,
the House Transportation Committee chair, says he understands the president’s
frustration, but is hesitant to endorse punishing controllers who called in
sick during the shutdown.“The problem with something like that is
that you really don’t know the circumstances, the folks, that may not be
eligible for these bonuses,” Graves tells KFEQ. “They may have
actually been sick.”Graves says air traffic controllers have
a high-stress job and not getting paid during the shutdown didn’t help.“You know, we’ve got to be careful,
because you just don’t know what the circumstances are,” Graves says.Graves says a high stress job became even
more stressful during the federal government shutdown as air traffic
controllers had to come to work without getting a paycheck.“You also can’t fault somebody who’s
trying to make a car payment and a mortgage payment. You don’t know what the
personal circumstance is and they had to go out and get another job for the
time being to try to make ends meet,” Graves says. “I can see both sides of
this to be quite honest with you. I can absolutely see both sides of this.”Graves says you cannot dismiss the
worries that pile up when the bills come due.“Whether that’s a car payment or a
mortgage payment or whatever your obligation may be and not getting paid for
two pay cycles. That creates even more stress and more hardship and it just
makes it worse,” according to Graves. “ I think it’s very hard for most folks
to really understand the true gravity of what took place.”The Trump administration has announced it
will give a bonus to air traffic controllers who had perfect attendance during
the shutdown. Those who came to work each day of the shutdown will receive $10,000
bonuses.You can follow&nbsp;Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ

Congressman Graves hesitant on plan to punish some air traffic controllers

As people celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, many will also begin their shopping to get ready for Christmas, taking advantage of deals.  

St. Joseph Police Chief Paul Luster says be sure when you leave your car to go into a store, to keep any items you purchase out of sight while you shop 

"If you go back to your car, put them in your trunk or somewhere where they’re out of sight,” Luster says on the KFEQmunnity.  “Don't put that $800 iPad in your passenger seat and leave it to go into the next store, you could just be inviting trouble, you’ll see a lot of people that engage in these thefts it’s a crime of opportunity.” 

Luster says these criminals will walk through parking lots looking for cars with items in plain view to steal from with how crowded lots are during holiday shopping.  

Luster advises shoppers to stay as alert as possible while out doing that holiday shopping 

"Always try to park in well-lit areas, be aware of your surroundings when you’re out there shopping in the holiday season, I think those are very, very important,” Luster says. 

Luster also reminds drivers that during the holiday weekend roads are going to be even busier than normal, so to be cautious and alert while going back and forth this Thanksgiving. 

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.

By MATT PIKEAs people celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, many will also begin their shopping to get ready for Christmas, taking advantage of deals. St. Joseph Police Chief Paul Luster says be sure when you leave your car to go into a store, to keep any items you purchase out of sight while you shop "If you go back to your car, put them in your trunk or somewhere where they’re out of sight,” Luster says on the KFEQmunnity. “Don't put that $800 iPad in your passenger seat and leave it to go into the next store, you could just be inviting trouble, you’ll see a lot of people that engage in these thefts it’s a crime of opportunity.” Luster says these criminals will walk through parking lots looking for cars with items in plain view to steal from with how crowded lots are during holiday shopping. Luster advises shoppers to stay as alert as possible while out doing that holiday shopping "Always try to park in well-lit areas, be aware of your surroundings when you’re out there shopping in the holiday season, I think those are very, very important,” Luster says. Luster also reminds drivers that during the holiday weekend roads are going to be even busier than normal, so to be cautious and alert while going back and forth this Thanksgiving. You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.

St. Joseph Police advise to hide gifts as you shop during the holiday's 

HOLT COUNTY —Two people were injured in an accident just before 10:30a.m. Thursday in Holt County.&nbsp;

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2012 GMC Yukon driven by a 30-year-old Grain Valley man was northbound on Interstate 29 at Mound City. The SUV traveled off the east side of the road. The undercarriage struck the ground. The vehicle continued northeast, struck an embankment, became airborne and the undercarriage struck the ground a second time. The SUV continued into a field, crossed an airfield, struck a combine, rotated clockwise and struck an aircraft hangar. The impact with the aircraft hangar door caused the door to impact a stationary airplane.

Atchison Holt ambulance transported the driver and a 10-year-old passenger to Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph. Both were properly restrained, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

HOLT COUNTY —Two people were injured in an accident just before 10:30a.m. Thursday in Holt County.&nbsp;The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2012 GMC Yukon driven by a 30-year-old Grain Valley man was northbound on Interstate 29 at Mound City. The SUV traveled off the east side of the road. The undercarriage struck the ground. The vehicle continued northeast, struck an embankment, became airborne and the undercarriage struck the ground a second time. The SUV continued into a field, crossed an airfield, struck a combine, rotated clockwise and struck an aircraft hangar. The impact with the aircraft hangar door caused the door to impact a stationary airplane.Atchison Holt ambulance transported the driver and a 10-year-old passenger to Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph. Both were properly restrained, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

Mo. man, boy injured after violent SUV crash into aircraft hangar

ATCHISON COUNTY, Mo.—One person died in an accident just before 4a.m. Thursday in Atchison County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2003 Toyota MR2 driven by a 44-year-old Union, Missouri, woman was northbound on Interstate 29 one mile north of Watson. The car began to skid. It crossed the center of the road, traveled off the west side of the northbound lanes, rolled into the southbound lanes and the driver was ejected.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Minter Funeral Home in Rock Port. She was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

ATCHISON COUNTY, Mo.—One person died in an accident just before 4a.m. Thursday in Atchison County.The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2003 Toyota MR2 driven by a 44-year-old Union, Missouri, woman was northbound on Interstate 29 one mile north of Watson. The car began to skid. It crossed the center of the road, traveled off the west side of the northbound lanes, rolled into the southbound lanes and the driver was ejected.The driver was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported to Minter Funeral Home in Rock Port. She was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, according to the MSHP. The Patrol no longer releases names of accident victims.

Missouri woman killed in rollover crash on Thanksgiving 

By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/squinn/">Steph Quinn</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

Missouri has been working on updating its computer systems to improve how it administers social safety net programs since 2013. New federal rules mean that work will wait until at least 2028

Missouri’s social services department has in recent years been&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/05/07/missouri-is-still-illegally-denying-food-assistance-despite-court-order/">reprimanded</a>&nbsp;by a judge for illegally denying food assistance and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/17/feds-to-scrutinize-missouris-worst-in-the-nation-medicaid-application-delays/">scrutinized</a>&nbsp;by the federal government for massive Medicaid application&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/17/feds-to-scrutinize-missouris-worst-in-the-nation-medicaid-application-delays/">backlogs</a>.

And for more than a decade, the agency has vowed to tackle these problems by overhauling the computer systems that help determine whether people qualify for social safety net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for low-income people.

But needed technology changes are once again on hold, thanks to a barrage of deadlines mandated by Congress this summer as part of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” —&nbsp; most notably work requirements and more frequent renewals for Medicaid.

Instead of moving forward with a long-promised modernization of its eligibility software, the Missouri Department of Social Services must focus its time and staff toward meeting sweeping federal deadlines in Trump’s new law. And that means the integrated SNAP-Medicaid system won’t arrive anytime soon.

Plans to combine eligibility software for SNAP and Medicaid into a single, updated system will have to wait until at least 2028, said Toi Wilde, chief information officer for the Missouri Department of Social Services.

“You don’t want this type of huge, major policy shift that you have going,” Wilde said. “Going into a full implementation of a new system would be extremely challenging [during this shift].”

News of the delay inspired dismay among those who have been battling with the department for years to ensure eligible Missourians get access to benefits they are entitled to receive. What’s worse, advocates say, is that delays come as the department is trying to appeal the 2024 federal court&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/05/09/federal-court-rules-missourians-were-illegally-denied-food-aid-by-the-state/">decision</a>&nbsp;that found its administration of the SNAP program illegally denied food benefits to Missourians.

Katherine Holley, an attorney for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri who assisted plaintiffs in that lawsuit, said her organization’s clients are still struggling to get department staff on the phone to complete required eligibility interviews.

Clients call the department trying to complete their interview, she said, only to hear that there are hundreds of people in front of them in the queue. One client was recently terminated from SNAP, she said, when a document he submitted to the department online got lost.

“I reached out to the agency, and then they found it, and they opened his benefits back up,” Holley said. “But if he hadn’t reached out to us, he would just be without benefits.”

The department’s attempt to combine its systems in 2013 ended earlier this year after a decade-long&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/01/14/appeals-court-upholds-23m-judgment-against-missouri-dss-in-contract-dispute/">legal battle</a>&nbsp;that cost the state&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/04/29/cost-balloons-for-missouri-taxpayers-in-medicaid-contract-dispute/">$92.7 million</a>, including interest.

The department contracted with the software company EngagePoint in June 2013 to build a system to meet requirements in the Affordable Care Act and handle eligibility and enrollment for SNAP and Medicaid.

Missouri didn’t expand Medicaid until 2021, but the 2010 federal law required states to make other changes. States had to start using a new method to measure income to determine Medicaid eligibility for most adults, and they had to update their eligibility and enrollment systems to exchange information with the federal marketplace.

The department had big ambitions for its tech upgrades: “a comprehensive, fully integrated, state-of-the-art automated human services eligibility, enrollment and case management system,” according to its January 2013&nbsp;<a href="http://bids.centerdigitalgov.com/docs/2013/02/Bid_Document__469647400.pdf?id=134847" target="_blank">request for proposals</a>.

But the state terminated the contract three years early, with the new system partially built. Missourians’ SNAP cases stayed in the old system, alongside Medicaid for elderly or disabled Missourians. Only the Medicaid cases subject to new federal income measurement were migrated to the newer system.

Advocates and experts say separate systems can cause problems.

Integrated systems allow people to take fewer steps to apply for and maintain SNAP and Medicaid benefits, which reduces the chance that they’ll be wrongly denied benefits. Well-integrated systems are also better at handling the complexity of overlapping but distinct federal eligibility rules for SNAP and Medicaid so state employees bear less of that burden.

Jennifer Wagner, director of Medicaid eligibility and enrollment at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said integrated systems make it easier for states to offer combined applications for Medicaid and SNAP and for information to carry over across programs when people complete annual renewals or submit changes.

Combined systems streamline state employees’ work, and the savings gets passed down to people accessing the programs.

“From a caseworker perspective, because so much of the eligibility determination keys off each other and uses the same information, you can touch a case much less often,” Wagner said.&nbsp;

Holley said a lack of coordination between Missouri’s SNAP and Medicaid systems has caused clients to lose benefits, partly because annual renewals for Medicaid and SNAP happen on different timelines.&nbsp;

A past client updated their address while renewing their Medicaid coverage, Holley said. The address didn’t transfer to the other system, so that when it was time for the client to recertify their SNAP eligibility, the paperwork was sent to their old address. The client lost their benefits.

“Those systems don’t talk,” Holley said.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the federal SNAP lawsuit said continuing challenges completing annual renewals are part of the reason it’s so important for the court not to let the department off the hook.&nbsp;

While the department argued in its request for an appeal that it had already addressed the harms to the individual plaintiffs in the case by granting them interviews and benefits, the attorneys said plaintiffs are likely to encounter the same denials for failure to interview.

“All of these people want to keep their benefits and are trying their hardest,” Holley said.

One of the plaintiffs, Mary Holmes, lost SNAP benefits during the lawsuit because the department said she incorrectly filled out recertification paperwork, Holley said.

Data the department is court-ordered to submit to the court each month suggest improvements in the number of times people get disconnected when the call center is overloaded. It also shows fewer SNAP applications are being rejected only due to failure to complete an interview.

But Katie Deabler, an attorney from the National Center for Law and Economic Justice who is also representing plaintiffs in the case, said the department hasn’t been submitting data long enough to demonstrate improvements will last.

Deabler, who has worked on SNAP cases in multiple states, said application volumes often vary with the seasons. Applications tend to pick up in the summer and over the winter holidays, when kids can’t receive food in school.

Though the average time someone spends on hold waiting for an interview has decreased from 57 minutes in February to 23 minutes in October, average wait times were slightly up in July, August, September and October from a year ago. That’s in four of the six months where there are two years of data.&nbsp;

The department has fallen short of a benchmark U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Harpool set in May of 90% of all callers spending no more than 20 minutes on hold. In October, that was true of 62% of people waiting for a SNAP interview. The longest anyone spent on hold that month, the department reported, was 2 hours and 22 minutes, down from a peak of 6 hours and 3 minutes in March.

“Agencies that are trying to fix these sorts of big, systemic problems,” Deabler said, “they really can’t just sit back and take a break just because there’s a few months that looked okay.”

Wagner, of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the “Big Beautiful Bill” has created “a perfect storm in a terrible way.”

The law requires states next year to begin implementing sweeping policy changes to Medicaid with sharply reduced administrative funding for SNAP and under intense pressure to minimize errors in SNAP payments.

“That means less resources and a ton more work and a lot more severe consequences if the work is not done perfectly,” Wagner said.

Beginning in October 2027, states with SNAP error rates of 6% or higher will have to pay 5 to 15% of the cost of the food benefits they issue. States’ current performance will be used to determine if and how much they must pay.

“So states have not a short timeframe, but a negative timeframe, to affect the error rate that will determine whether the state can maintain the program or not,” Wagner said.

Missouri’s error rate was 9.42% in fiscal year 2024,&nbsp;<a href="https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/resource-files/snap-fy24QC-PER.pdf" target="_blank">according</a>&nbsp;to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Wilde, the state social services department’s chief information officer, said that while the department focuses on implementing the federal law, it’s making changes to streamline staffers’ workflow while planning for the eventual replacement of its systems.

The department has developed a process to automatically transfer some information from SNAP applications into the eligibility system, Wilde said, without requiring “a bunch of manual touches” from staffers, saving about 400 hours of work so far.

“What we’ve been doing,” she said, “is reimagining, in the intermediacy, til different systems…are put in place, what are some low tech solutions that still have big, really good [impacts] and that can help the process?”

Wilde said the department has also upgraded its automated call center technology so Missourians can get more information about their SNAP and Medicaid cases without having to wait on hold.&nbsp;

The department has also started work to allow its call center technology to feed more information to its eligibility systems, Wilde said, in anticipation of more frequent Medicaid recertifications next year.

For Missourians struggling to access needed assistance, the stakes are high.&nbsp;

Deabler said that regardless of pressures from the federal government, the state has a legal responsibility to provide SNAP benefits to people who are eligible.

“States owe the same duty to the people who rely on this program to feed their families that they always did,” Deabler said.

Holley said she and others at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, “keep see[ing] people cycling back through, needing our help again and again.”

“In theory, all of these systems should work to keep people who qualify for benefits…in receipt of them,” Holley said. “They should continue to receive benefits. They’re doing what they need to do. It’s frustrating.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/2/1708341005704.png" alt="&nbsp;Instead of moving forward with a long-promised modernization of its eligibility software, the Missouri Department of Social Services must focus its time and staff toward meeting sweeping federal deadlines in Trump’s new law. And that means the integrated SNAP-Medicaid system won’t arrive anytime soon (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>&nbsp;Instead of moving forward with a long-promised modernization of its eligibility software, the Missouri Department of Social Services must focus its time and staff toward meeting sweeping federal deadlines in Trump’s new law. And that means the integrated SNAP-Medicaid system won’t arrive anytime soon (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>By:<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/squinn/">Steph Quinn</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a><h2>Missouri has been working on updating its computer systems to improve how it administers social safety net programs since 2013. New federal rules mean that work will wait until at least 2028</h2>Missouri’s social services department has in recent years been&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/05/07/missouri-is-still-illegally-denying-food-assistance-despite-court-order/">reprimanded</a>&nbsp;by a judge for illegally denying food assistance and&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/17/feds-to-scrutinize-missouris-worst-in-the-nation-medicaid-application-delays/">scrutinized</a>&nbsp;by the federal government for massive Medicaid application&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/17/feds-to-scrutinize-missouris-worst-in-the-nation-medicaid-application-delays/">backlogs</a>.And for more than a decade, the agency has vowed to tackle these problems by overhauling the computer systems that help determine whether people qualify for social safety net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for low-income people.But needed technology changes are once again on hold, thanks to a barrage of deadlines mandated by Congress this summer as part of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” —&nbsp; most notably work requirements and more frequent renewals for Medicaid.Instead of moving forward with a long-promised modernization of its eligibility software, the Missouri Department of Social Services must focus its time and staff toward meeting sweeping federal deadlines in Trump’s new law. And that means the integrated SNAP-Medicaid system won’t arrive anytime soon.Plans to combine eligibility software for SNAP and Medicaid into a single, updated system will have to wait until at least 2028, said Toi Wilde, chief information officer for the Missouri Department of Social Services.“You don’t want this type of huge, major policy shift that you have going,” Wilde said. “Going into a full implementation of a new system would be extremely challenging [during this shift].”News of the delay inspired dismay among those who have been battling with the department for years to ensure eligible Missourians get access to benefits they are entitled to receive. What’s worse, advocates say, is that delays come as the department is trying to appeal the 2024 federal court&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/05/09/federal-court-rules-missourians-were-illegally-denied-food-aid-by-the-state/">decision</a>&nbsp;that found its administration of the SNAP program illegally denied food benefits to Missourians.Katherine Holley, an attorney for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri who assisted plaintiffs in that lawsuit, said her organization’s clients are still struggling to get department staff on the phone to complete required eligibility interviews.Clients call the department trying to complete their interview, she said, only to hear that there are hundreds of people in front of them in the queue. One client was recently terminated from SNAP, she said, when a document he submitted to the department online got lost.“I reached out to the agency, and then they found it, and they opened his benefits back up,” Holley said. “But if he hadn’t reached out to us, he would just be without benefits.”<h2>System struggles</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1764156179883.png" alt="The Missouri Department of Social Services resource center located in Columbia, on April 18, 2023 (Clara Bates/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>The Missouri Department of Social Services resource center located in Columbia, on April 18, 2023 (Clara Bates/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>The department’s attempt to combine its systems in 2013 ended earlier this year after a decade-long&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/01/14/appeals-court-upholds-23m-judgment-against-missouri-dss-in-contract-dispute/">legal battle</a>&nbsp;that cost the state&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/04/29/cost-balloons-for-missouri-taxpayers-in-medicaid-contract-dispute/">$92.7 million</a>, including interest.The department contracted with the software company EngagePoint in June 2013 to build a system to meet requirements in the Affordable Care Act and handle eligibility and enrollment for SNAP and Medicaid.Missouri didn’t expand Medicaid until 2021, but the 2010 federal law required states to make other changes. States had to start using a new method to measure income to determine Medicaid eligibility for most adults, and they had to update their eligibility and enrollment systems to exchange information with the federal marketplace.The department had big ambitions for its tech upgrades: “a comprehensive, fully integrated, state-of-the-art automated human services eligibility, enrollment and case management system,” according to its January 2013&nbsp;<a href="http://bids.centerdigitalgov.com/docs/2013/02/Bid_Document__469647400.pdf?id=134847" target="_blank">request for proposals</a>.But the state terminated the contract three years early, with the new system partially built. Missourians’ SNAP cases stayed in the old system, alongside Medicaid for elderly or disabled Missourians. Only the Medicaid cases subject to new federal income measurement were migrated to the newer system.Advocates and experts say separate systems can cause problems.Integrated systems allow people to take fewer steps to apply for and maintain SNAP and Medicaid benefits, which reduces the chance that they’ll be wrongly denied benefits. Well-integrated systems are also better at handling the complexity of overlapping but distinct federal eligibility rules for SNAP and Medicaid so state employees bear less of that burden.Jennifer Wagner, director of Medicaid eligibility and enrollment at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said integrated systems make it easier for states to offer combined applications for Medicaid and SNAP and for information to carry over across programs when people complete annual renewals or submit changes.Combined systems streamline state employees’ work, and the savings gets passed down to people accessing the programs.“From a caseworker perspective, because so much of the eligibility determination keys off each other and uses the same information, you can touch a case much less often,” Wagner said.&nbsp;Holley said a lack of coordination between Missouri’s SNAP and Medicaid systems has caused clients to lose benefits, partly because annual renewals for Medicaid and SNAP happen on different timelines.&nbsp;A past client updated their address while renewing their Medicaid coverage, Holley said. The address didn’t transfer to the other system, so that when it was time for the client to recertify their SNAP eligibility, the paperwork was sent to their old address. The client lost their benefits.“Those systems don’t talk,” Holley said.<h2>Barriers to access</h2>Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the federal SNAP lawsuit said continuing challenges completing annual renewals are part of the reason it’s so important for the court not to let the department off the hook.&nbsp;While the department argued in its request for an appeal that it had already addressed the harms to the individual plaintiffs in the case by granting them interviews and benefits, the attorneys said plaintiffs are likely to encounter the same denials for failure to interview.“All of these people want to keep their benefits and are trying their hardest,” Holley said.One of the plaintiffs, Mary Holmes, lost SNAP benefits during the lawsuit because the department said she incorrectly filled out recertification paperwork, Holley said.Data the department is court-ordered to submit to the court each month suggest improvements in the number of times people get disconnected when the call center is overloaded. It also shows fewer SNAP applications are being rejected only due to failure to complete an interview.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1764156229050.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>But Katie Deabler, an attorney from the National Center for Law and Economic Justice who is also representing plaintiffs in the case, said the department hasn’t been submitting data long enough to demonstrate improvements will last.Deabler, who has worked on SNAP cases in multiple states, said application volumes often vary with the seasons. Applications tend to pick up in the summer and over the winter holidays, when kids can’t receive food in school.Though the average time someone spends on hold waiting for an interview has decreased from 57 minutes in February to 23 minutes in October, average wait times were slightly up in July, August, September and October from a year ago. That’s in four of the six months where there are two years of data.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1764156280528.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>The department has fallen short of a benchmark U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Harpool set in May of 90% of all callers spending no more than 20 minutes on hold. In October, that was true of 62% of people waiting for a SNAP interview. The longest anyone spent on hold that month, the department reported, was 2 hours and 22 minutes, down from a peak of 6 hours and 3 minutes in March.“Agencies that are trying to fix these sorts of big, systemic problems,” Deabler said, “they really can’t just sit back and take a break just because there’s a few months that looked okay.”<h2>“A perfect storm in a terrible way”</h2>Wagner, of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the “Big Beautiful Bill” has created “a perfect storm in a terrible way.”The law requires states next year to begin implementing sweeping policy changes to Medicaid with sharply reduced administrative funding for SNAP and under intense pressure to minimize errors in SNAP payments.“That means less resources and a ton more work and a lot more severe consequences if the work is not done perfectly,” Wagner said.Beginning in October 2027, states with SNAP error rates of 6% or higher will have to pay 5 to 15% of the cost of the food benefits they issue. States’ current performance will be used to determine if and how much they must pay.“So states have not a short timeframe, but a negative timeframe, to affect the error rate that will determine whether the state can maintain the program or not,” Wagner said.Missouri’s error rate was 9.42% in fiscal year 2024,&nbsp;<a href="https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/resource-files/snap-fy24QC-PER.pdf" target="_blank">according</a>&nbsp;to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.Wilde, the state social services department’s chief information officer, said that while the department focuses on implementing the federal law, it’s making changes to streamline staffers’ workflow while planning for the eventual replacement of its systems.The department has developed a process to automatically transfer some information from SNAP applications into the eligibility system, Wilde said, without requiring “a bunch of manual touches” from staffers, saving about 400 hours of work so far.“What we’ve been doing,” she said, “is reimagining, in the intermediacy, til different systems…are put in place, what are some low tech solutions that still have big, really good [impacts] and that can help the process?”Wilde said the department has also upgraded its automated call center technology so Missourians can get more information about their SNAP and Medicaid cases without having to wait on hold.&nbsp;The department has also started work to allow its call center technology to feed more information to its eligibility systems, Wilde said, in anticipation of more frequent Medicaid recertifications next year.For Missourians struggling to access needed assistance, the stakes are high.&nbsp;Deabler said that regardless of pressures from the federal government, the state has a legal responsibility to provide SNAP benefits to people who are eligible.“States owe the same duty to the people who rely on this program to feed their families that they always did,” Deabler said.Holley said she and others at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, “keep see[ing] people cycling back through, needing our help again and again.”“In theory, all of these systems should work to keep people who qualify for benefits…in receipt of them,” Holley said. “They should continue to receive benefits. They’re doing what they need to do. It’s frustrating.”

Federal changes delay long-overdue overhaul of Missouri’s troubled safety net systems

With more people coming in and out of your house this Thanksgiving holiday, you should also be sure to consider the well-being of your pets.   

Melanie Barnes with Friends of the Animal Shelter says with more people coming over, maybe some your pets don't know, it's important to consider how they will react 

"Does that stress your pet out? In which case, how are they going to behave, and how are they going to respond, and is that going to affect their health,” Barnes says on the KFEQmunnity show.  “If you’re having kids over and you don’t have kids in the household, you put a three or four year old running around making noise or playing with noisemakers and maybe the pets not used to it, whether its a dog, cat, or some other type of pet.” 

Barnes says if things like that do stress your pet out, you have to consider if they will make your pet run and hide or try to run away, making it important to keep them secure as you open the door to let people in and out. 

Barnes says while most owners know their dogs well, they don't always know what will set them off 

"And it doesn’t always have to come from a place of anxiety within the pet, and obviously that’s the hardest part, is they can’t tell you how they’re feeling so you do have to be pretty observant,” Barnes explains 

Barnes says while most of this happens with dogs going from puppies to adults, but points out its also common in senior dogs who are beginning to lose their senses 

“So maybe their hearing, their sense of smell, potentially even a little bit of their eyesight, that can put them on edge,” Barnes says.  “Because they don’t how to trust, they’re used to trusting all their senses, and they don’t know how to trust without that sense.” 

Barnes points out to pet owners that while it may not always happen, a pets behavior can change from year to year, so it's important to be aware. 

As you cook all that food this Thanksgiving, there's a good chance your pet is going to want some of it from your guests 

Barnes says there are a number of things your pet shouldn't eat this Thanksgiving, and it's best to do your own research, but says best case scenario is don't give your pet any human food 

"If you know they’re going to give them those eyes, and you can’t intervene with your guests, it’s probably best to crate your dog or cat, or go put them in a separate room so they don’t get put in that situation,” Barnes says.  “Because it’s kind of natural sometimes for the dog and cat to do that if you haven’t trained them otherwise, so sometimes you can’t really put that on them, and then if Uncle Bob comes over and always feeds the dog from the table, you need to do something to make sure Uncle Bob doesn’t do that.” 

Barnes says you have to think about it from three perspectives, should they be eating it from a calorie perspective, a health perspective, and a toxicity perspective.  

Barnes says items like grapes, raisins, onions, any raw items, and false sugars can all be toxic items to your pets used around Thanksgiving. 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1763654958369.jpeg" alt="File photo" />
 <figcaption>File photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By MATT PIKEWith more people coming in and out of your house this Thanksgiving holiday, you should also be sure to consider the well-being of your pets. Melanie Barnes with Friends of the Animal Shelter says with more people coming over, maybe some your pets don't know, it's important to consider how they will react "Does that stress your pet out? In which case, how are they going to behave, and how are they going to respond, and is that going to affect their health,” Barnes says on the KFEQmunnity show. “If you’re having kids over and you don’t have kids in the household, you put a three or four year old running around making noise or playing with noisemakers and maybe the pets not used to it, whether its a dog, cat, or some other type of pet.” Barnes says if things like that do stress your pet out, you have to consider if they will make your pet run and hide or try to run away, making it important to keep them secure as you open the door to let people in and out. Barnes says while most owners know their dogs well, they don't always know what will set them off "And it doesn’t always have to come from a place of anxiety within the pet, and obviously that’s the hardest part, is they can’t tell you how they’re feeling so you do have to be pretty observant,” Barnes explains Barnes says while most of this happens with dogs going from puppies to adults, but points out its also common in senior dogs who are beginning to lose their senses “So maybe their hearing, their sense of smell, potentially even a little bit of their eyesight, that can put them on edge,” Barnes says. “Because they don’t how to trust, they’re used to trusting all their senses, and they don’t know how to trust without that sense.” Barnes points out to pet owners that while it may not always happen, a pets behavior can change from year to year, so it's important to be aware. As you cook all that food this Thanksgiving, there's a good chance your pet is going to want some of it from your guests Barnes says there are a number of things your pet shouldn't eat this Thanksgiving, and it's best to do your own research, but says best case scenario is don't give your pet any human food "If you know they’re going to give them those eyes, and you can’t intervene with your guests, it’s probably best to crate your dog or cat, or go put them in a separate room so they don’t get put in that situation,” Barnes says. “Because it’s kind of natural sometimes for the dog and cat to do that if you haven’t trained them otherwise, so sometimes you can’t really put that on them, and then if Uncle Bob comes over and always feeds the dog from the table, you need to do something to make sure Uncle Bob doesn’t do that.” Barnes says you have to think about it from three perspectives, should they be eating it from a calorie perspective, a health perspective, and a toxicity perspective. Barnes says items like grapes, raisins, onions, any raw items, and false sugars can all be toxic items to your pets used around Thanksgiving. You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.

Make sure to keep an eye on your pets this Thanksgiving

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ahanshaw/">Annelise Hanshaw</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

Less than 2% of MOScholars students are funded through donations this school year. The rest depend on general revenue from the state budget

More than 98% of scholarships administered by the MOScholars program this school year are funded by Missouri taxpayers. And though there are strict eligibility requirements for private-school scholarships, eligibility isn’t checked after the initial scholarship is awarded or for siblings of students who received a scholarship.

The revelations about the inner workings of Missouri’s private school voucher program came to light over the course of a two-day trial in Cole County Circuit Court this week.

The focus of the arguments Monday and Tuesday were over whether the state can use general revenue for private school tuition, with the attorney general’s office defending state funds as transformative for the program and Missouri’s largest teacher’s union saying the funding is unlawful.

But witness testimony pulled back the curtain on certain details about the MOScholars program that have stayed largely out of the public consciousness.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1764246209014.png" alt="Director of Programs for the Missouri State Treasurer’s Office Trent Blair answers questions about the MOScholars program during a trial challenging the constitutionality of Missouri’s funding of school vouchers Monday in the Cole County Courthouse (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>Director of Programs for the Missouri State Treasurer’s Office Trent Blair answers questions about the MOScholars program during a trial challenging the constitutionality of Missouri’s funding of school vouchers Monday in the Cole County Courthouse (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/ahanshaw/">Annelise Hanshaw</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a><h2>Less than 2% of MOScholars students are funded through donations this school year. The rest depend on general revenue from the state budget</h2>More than 98% of scholarships administered by the MOScholars program this school year are funded by Missouri taxpayers. And though there are strict eligibility requirements for private-school scholarships, eligibility isn’t checked after the initial scholarship is awarded or for siblings of students who received a scholarship.The revelations about the inner workings of Missouri’s private school voucher program came to light over the course of a two-day trial in Cole County Circuit Court this week.The focus of the arguments Monday and Tuesday were over whether the state can use general revenue for private school tuition, with the attorney general’s office defending state funds as transformative for the program and Missouri’s largest teacher’s union saying the funding is unlawful.But witness testimony pulled back the curtain on certain details about the MOScholars program that have stayed largely out of the public consciousness.MOScholars, which is in its fourth year of operation, awards scholarships to K-12 students who meet certain criteria.When state lawmakers created the program in a 2021 bill, they set it up to run on donations that are eligible for a 100% tax credit up to half of a donor’s tax liability. In the first three years of the program, donations totaled $33.8 million.Gov. Mike Kehoe announced in January that he intended to bring a major infusion of funding to the program through a $50 million appropriation of general revenue. This windfall for MOScholars has allowed the state to nearly triple the amount of scholarships awarded this fall.“If not for general revenue, would many of (the new) scholars be able to receive a scholarship?” Assistant Attorney General Peter Donahue asked the treasurer’s director of programs, Trent Blair.“No,” Blair answered.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/11/1764246181226.png" alt="Loretta Haggard, an attorney representing the Missouri National Education Association, questions the State Treasurer’s director of programs in a trial challenging the constitutionality of Missouri’s funding of school vouchers Tuesday morning in the Cole County Courthouse (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>Loretta Haggard, an attorney representing the Missouri National Education Association, questions the State Treasurer’s director of programs in a trial challenging the constitutionality of Missouri’s funding of school vouchers Tuesday morning in the Cole County Courthouse (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>Of 6,418 scholarships awarded this school year, only 111 are funded through tax credits. That includes the 2,405 students who were in the program last year. So if MOScholars did not receive the state appropriation, the funding would cover less than 5% of the renewal students going into the school year.The State Treasurer’s Office, which oversees MOScholars, has previously admitted to problems with the timing of funding. The bulk of donations hit the accounts of educational assistance organizations — intermediary nonprofits that connect students with the funding — in December.With tuition due in August, MOScholars had to either wait eight months to award the funds or put stress on the system. Blair testified that the educational assistance organizations largely chose the latter and that the organizations themselves choose when to use donated funds.&nbsp;In 2023, two of the six educational assistance organizations acknowledged they used&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/11/21/funding-lag-creates-barrier-for-missouri-private-school-tax-credit-program/">their private funds to pay tuition</a>&nbsp;in the fall and paid themselves back once they received donations.&nbsp;In October, two organizations&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/10/13/nearly-all-state-funding-for-missouri-school-vouchers-used-for-religious-schools/">told The Independent</a>&nbsp;that they were able to fund scholarships for all their renewal students and clear their waitlists with the new state funds.The state money “stabilizes the program,” Blair testified Tuesday.Representing the Missouri National Education Association, attorney Loretta Haggard unearthed issues with the administration of the program as she cross-examined Blair.She honed in on MOScholars’ eligibility requirements. State law limits the program to students with an individualized education plan or those whose family makes at or below 300% of the income standard used to qualify for free and reduced price lunches.The treasurer’s office uses an education management system called FACTS to review applications and determine eligibility. Haggard asked if the software checks if renewal students still meet eligibility requirements.&nbsp;It doesn’t, Blair said.“So a student can receive a scholarship even though they don’t meet the IEP or income requirements?” Haggard then asked.“Yes,” Blair said.When a student is eligible one year, the system presumes that they retain eligibility. The siblings of renewal students are also deemed eligible.The treasurer’s office has faced criticism before over how it has administered MOScholars, including&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/04/10/missouri-treasurer-vivek-malek-transparency-moscholars/">complaints from Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck</a>&nbsp;that the office wasn’t transparent about program data. And in July, a&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2025/07/16/missouri-auditor-says-treasurer-put-35-million-into-wrong-state-fund/">report from the State Auditor</a>&nbsp;found the treasurer’s office didn’t conduct annual audits of the MOScholars program required by state law.But Tuesday’s testimony was the first time the state has admitted to not rechecking eligibility, something that is routine for other state-funded programs like food assistance or Medicaid.&nbsp;Any questions about the administration of the program don’t impact the legality of the appropriation, said Bryan Cleveland, an attorney with Indiana-based advocacy group EdChoice, who intervened in the case on behalf of three parents whose children have received assistance through MOScholars.“The case does not depend on whether any one treasurer is doing a good job but rather on interpretation of statutory provisions,” he told the judge. “The rest of the discussion of what the treasurer or the educational assistance organizations do after (the appropriation) is not relevant.”Blair, stepping off the witness stand Tuesday, sighed, head tucked as he walked back to his seat. The trial marked one of the few occasions the treasurer’s office has answered questions publicly, apart from occasional statements to the media.When Cole County Judge Brian Stumpe denied a request for a temporary restraining order, which would have blocked the spending of the general revenue during the trial, the treasurer’s office held a joint press conference with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office but did not take any questions.On Monday, attorneys argued over whether the Missouri NEA or its individual members had standing to challenge the state appropriation to MOScholars.&nbsp;A decision on the case is not expected until after Dec. 8, when attorneys’ post-trial filings are due.

Local