On a single night in 2023, more than 6,700 people in Missouri didn’t have a place to call home - and that included hundreds of families and teens. Now, with the passage of the new federal budget, donations to homeless shelters are down, and even the helpers need help.

Illinois schools have already been grappling with a teacher shortage, budget deficits, and growing student needs. Experts say there was an anticipated budget shortfall of $280 million due to frozen federal K-12 funds, but administration officials say those funds are now unfrozen.

New Medicaid work rules are raising fears among many Missourians about losing health insurance. Under the new federal budget bill, adults on Medicaid expansion will have to prove 80 hours of work or volunteer time each month. However, health experts say Medicaid backlog is the real issue.

Drivers with zTrip’s IRIS microtransit program are suing, accusing the company of cheating them out of thousands in overtime. The federal class-action suit, filed in Kansas City, says drivers regularly worked more than 40 hours a week without time-and-a-half pay because zTrip wrongly treated them as independent contractors.

As the Trump administration considers overhauling the nation’s disaster relief agency, a Pew Research Center poll shows most Americans, including Missourians, support more federal help when extreme weather strikes.

Small business owners and farmers from Missouri and across the country are raising concerns as uncertainty deepens over the future of federal trade tariffs. A 90-day pause on tariffs expired last Wednesday, with no new trade agreements in place, leaving many businesses facing renewed tariff notices and mounting frustration.

Business groups lobbied heavily to overturn the measure passed by 58% of voters, arguing it would cost jobs. The bill also repeals annual inflation adjustments for the minimum wage, in effect since 2006.

Residents in Cape Girardeau County are gathering signatures to place a senior property tax credit measure on an upcoming ballot.

The Missouri National Education Association hopes to stop the use of the state’s general revenue to fund private school scholarships.

The 93rd annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors took place June 19-22 in Tampa, Florida.