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Jan 1, 2025 | 
columbiamissourian.com | Kelly Dereuck
By Kelly Dereuck Missouri in 2025For more insights about Missouri in 2025, follow our series of stories about the state in the year ahead. Following a slow year in the U.S. housing market, experts expect that first-time homebuyers in Missouri may have greater access to financing programs and increased housing choices in 2025, though prices and mortgage rates may remain elevated.
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Nov 5, 2024 | 
columbiamissourian.com | Kelly Dereuck
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Nov 5, 2024 | 
missouribusinessalert.com | Kelly Dereuck
Workers earning minimum wage in Missouri will see a boost in their paychecks after voters approved a measure increasing the wage floor to $15 an hour by 2026. Nearly 59% of voters approved of Proposition A, according to unofficial results from the Missouri Secretary of State as of 11:50 p.m. Tuesday, with more than 92% of precincts reporting. In 2018, voters approved a measure to raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2023. It went up another 30 cents this year due to inflation.
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Nov 5, 2024 | 
columbiamissourian.com | Kelly Dereuck
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Oct 25, 2024 | 
missouribusinessalert.com | Kelly Dereuck
As a small business owner, Joe Chevalier believes in passing along the profits he earns to his staff in the form of higher wages. Employees at his store, Yellow Dog Bookshop in downtown Columbia, make more than the current state minimum wage of $12.30 an hour, and Chevalier feels that has helped with employee retention. “It's good to have a staff that's going to stay with you, and if they're paid more, then they're more likely to stay there,” Chevalier said.
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Aug 6, 2024 | 
missouribusinessalert.com | Kelly Dereuck
Based on unofficial results from the Missouri Secretary of State, voters have selected candidates from each political party to face off in the November general election. One U.S. Senate seat and all eight of the state’s U.S. House seats are on the ballot Nov. 5. Candidates elected to the U.S. Senate serve six year terms, while those serving in the U.S. House serve two year terms. Here’s the candidates who emerged victorious from Tuesday’s primary election.
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May 24, 2024 | 
news-leader.com | Kelly Dereuck
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has received attention recently for flying a flag at his summer home bearing the words “An Appeal to Heaven” above a pine tree. House Speaker Mike Johnson displays the same flag outside of his office in the U.S. Capitol building, according to reporting from the Associated Press. Rep. Eric Burlison, Missouri's 7th District congressman, also displayed one in a recent post on X. But why has this flag become such a topic of attention?
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May 22, 2024 | 
news-leader.com | Kelly Dereuck
As the dust settles on the 2024 legislative session, many of the bills passed by the Missouri General Assembly await Gov. Mike Parson’s final consideration. Parson, who is currently on a trade mission in Italy until June 4, has the ability to veto all or part of any appropriations bills funding government operations, but can only fully veto all other bills. If he chooses not to sign them or take no action, it passes the legislation by default.
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May 21, 2024 | 
news-leader.com | Kelly Dereuck
In a legislative session that was marked by disputes over asking voters whether they wanted to change the initiative petition process, another resolution was passed that will put the question of ranked choice voting before the people. Ranked choice voting refers to the practice in which voters rank the candidates on a ballot according to preference. If one candidate receives an outright majority, they would win the election.
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May 20, 2024 | 
news-leader.com | Kelly Dereuck
Friday marked the end of the 2024 session for Missouri's legislature, which passed the fewest bills in any year in recent memory that were not appropriations bills. There were 28 non-budget bills passed. However, of the 18 appropriations bills that were passed, some lawmakers raised concerns that the legislation funding the state budget is lacking enough funds to keep all of the state departments operational through the upcoming fiscal year.
