Within mere minutes of the overturning of the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that enshrined the nationwide right to an abortion, MO Attorney General and Republican Senate Candidate implemented Missouri’s trigger law to ban abortion within the state. In the stunning 6-3 decision released today that effectively wipes clean a half-century of legal precedent, dozens of states are quickly adjusting to an uncertain post-Roe future. BREAKING: With the Dobbs decision just handed down and a stroke of my pen — Missouri became the first state to effectively end abortion and has become t ..read more

On May 6, 2019, the ambitious “Better Together” plan to unite St. Louis City and County shelved its hotly anticipated and oftentimes controversial merger plan. With its chosen Regional Mayor, then County-Executive Steve Stenger, headed to Federal prison and other issues like concern from Black political leaders, the plan fell apart. The effort fizzled away, with no word on when it might return. It all began, however, nearly a century and a half ago when the City and County originally separated. For the many decades to come, the City hosted most of the regional growth. Quickly becoming one of t ..read more

In 2012, St. Louis City voters approved “Proposition R”, a measure to reduce the size of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen from 28 members to 14. This would mean that the city would see its Ward count reduced to 14 as well. At the time, advocates suggested that the measure would increase efficiency, reduce corruption, and more sensibly represent a city less than half the size of its former population. As the vote would amend the Charter of the City of St. Louis, it required 60% or greater support to pass. In 2012, voters were able to accomplish this goal after a few prior attempts with a citywid ..read more

The St. Louis Post Dispatch, like many print newspapers across the U.S., must confront a more difficult environment as online media diverts customers away from more traditional news sources. Even as legacy organizations like the Post seek to adapt, growth seems nearly out of the question. Rather, of the 25 largest legacy print newspapers across the country, including the Post, average weekday circulation was dropping at nearly double digit rates year over year as of 2010 – when the Post publicized its own circulation woes. It is within this context of a changing media landscape and a shift to ..read more

In one of the biggest electoral shifts in St, Louis’ history, Mayor-Elect Tishaura Jones and multiple progressive Aldermanic candidates changed the entire political dynamic of the city. Mayor-Elect Jones defeated Alderwoman Cara Spencer with 51.68% of the vote compared to Spencer’s 47.77%. The April 6 election also had nearly 30% voter turnout – a significantly higher percentage than the March primary’s 22%. Contrary to some opinions that have spread online to varying degrees that suggest this was a low-turnout election, 30% voter turnout is significantly higher than average for municipal elec ..read more

When St. Louis City voters wake up on April 6, they will have the opportunity to cast their ballots in the first Approval Voting runoff in the city’s history. On the ballot are two progressive women vying for Mayor, a multiple propositions including the City’s Earnings Tax that makes up 36% of its revenue, and many Aldermanic races that could determine what policy looks like over the next several years. Mayoral Candidates For Mayor, voters can choose between Treasurer Tishaura Jones and Alderwoman Cara Spencer. Both candidates have detailed policy platforms that lean more on the progressive si ..read more

The Missouri House Budget Committee, led by Republican legislators who carry a supermajority, voted 20-9 along party lines to deny funding to the Medicaid Expansion. Missouri voters authorized the Medicaid Expansion last August, with just over 53% of voters choosing to back an amendment to the Missouri Constitution that would expand Medicaid eligibility to individuals and families up to 138% of the Federal poverty line. As Missouri’s Medicaid program stands right now, most adults without children are not covered and its income eligibility is one of the lowest in the nation. A comment from Rep ..read more

St. Louis City is poised to have its first municipal election utilizing ‘Approval Voting‘, a method of voting that voters overwhelmingly adopted in November 2020 with the passing of Proposition D. Tomorrow’s March 2nd municipal primary election will be the first time St. Louis voters get to vote for more than one candidate for a given office. St. Louis is one of the first U.S. cities to adopt such a measure, with Fargo being the first just under a year ago. While voters are used to choosing a single candidate, the city’s new voting system passes with Proposition D allows voters to choose multi ..read more

St. Louis City has for years relied upon its Earnings Tax revenue for a significant portion of its annual revenues, now comprising of over a third of the city’s expected revenue each year. In 2020, St. Louis raked in just over $191 million, a sum that has quickly grown over the past few years. With the city seeing incredible investment and high paying jobs in the medical, geospatial, and tech sectors at the Cortex, Downtown, and beyond, it has seen a 9.97% increase in revenue over the last two years alone. Although there is a real and warranted debate over how the city allocates its funds in r ..read more

Following a significant delay in vaccination shipments allotted toward St. Louis City and County, the St. Louis Department of Health began mass vaccinations at Union Station Downtown. St. Louis Mayor Lydia Krewson shared on Twitter that “approximately 4,000 individuals in Phase 1A and Phase 1B” were able to receive their first doses of the highly effective vaccines. According to Fox2Now, all of the city’s first responders have now been vaccinated. The vaccine is now open to the public in limited availability, although the city hopes to bring doses to the more than 30,000 people on their notif ..read more