Evy Lewis

Reporter and writer with experience covering state, county and local government, data and investigative projects, graphics.

STLPR •

Missouri House approves reducing personal property taxes, relaxing car inspections

The Missouri House passed several bills Thursday, including one that will broadly loosen car inspection requirements and another that would reduce the values used to calculate personal property taxes.Both bills now proceed to the Senate.Currently, personal property taxes in Missouri are determined based on one-third of market value. House Bill 903 would reduce that to 18% of market value over a three-year period.“The tax on personal property is not only an inefficient tax, but a tax that most wo...
STLPR •

Missouri Senate sends $2 billion supplemental budget to governor’s desk

The Missouri Senate on Wednesday approved a bill allocating nearly $2 billion to fund the state government through the rest of the current fiscal year.The allocation now goes to the governor’s desk for approval.The legislature passes a supplemental budget every year. It’s common for unexpected financial needs to arise or for programs to cost more than the projections that were approved in the previous year’s budget.When that happens, the budget has to be adjusted so everything can remain funded....
STLPR •

Missouri House approves pair of wide-ranging tax bills including income tax changes

The Missouri House of Representatives passed two bills containing a bevy of tax measures Wednesday, including changes to income tax rates and tax credits.House Bill 798 passed with a vote of 100-53, while House Bill 660 was approved 89-58.Both bills will now proceed to the Senate, where a measure that would remove the capital gains tax was stalled earlier this week by a filibuster.Missouri currently has a graduated income tax ranging from 2% to 4.8%. Among other provisions, HB 798 would set the...
STLPR •

SLU, WashU researchers among those at state Capitol protesting science funding cuts

A crowd of around 250 protesters gathered outside the state Capitol in Jefferson City on Friday, rallying against government cuts to scientific funding under the Trump administration.Graduate students and researchers from universities across the state attended, including St. Louis University and Washington University. Several wore buttons that read: “Ask me about my research.”John Tavis, a professor of molecular virology at St. Louis University, said he came to the protest because federal cuts t...
STLPR •

Missouri Senate approves child marriage ban, raising minimum age to 18

The Missouri Senate on Thursday gave bipartisan approval to bills that would ban child marriage and discrimination against natural Black hair.The bills passed the Senate by a vote of 32-1, with Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, voting against both. They will now proceed to the House of Representatives.Under current law, 16- and 17-year-olds can marry in Missouri with parental consent. Senate Bill 66 would raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 in all circumstances.Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-St. Louis, t...
STLPR •

Missouri House of Representatives approves $1.9 billion supplemental budget

The Missouri House of Representatives approved a nearly $2 billion supplemental budget Wednesday to fund the state government through the rest of the current fiscal year.The legislature passes a supplemental budget every year. It’s common for unexpected financial needs to arise or for programs to cost more in reality than the projections that were approved in the previous year’s budget. When that happens, the budget has to be adjusted so everything can remain funded.Rep. Betsy Fogle, of Springfi...
STLPR •

Missouri Senate approves removing expiration date from restrictions on transgender youth

The Missouri Senate passed bills Thursday that would remove expiration dates from restrictions on transgender youth, ban cellphone use in school and reduce the power of the courts to change the summary language on ballot items.The bills will now proceed to the House of Representatives.The Missouri legislature passed bans on transgender youth accessing gender-affirming health care and participating in sports according to their gender identity into law in 2023. Currently, those laws are set to exp...
STLPR •

Missouri Senate passes anti-hazing bill with bipartisan vote

The Missouri Senate gave bipartisan approval Thursday to an anti-hazing bill that would create Danny’s Law, named after former University of Missouri student Danny Santulli.Santulli is a former Mizzou freshman who suffered alcohol poisoning leading to permanent brain damage during a fraternity hazing ritual in 2021.Senate Bill 167 would protect the first person to call 911 or campus security when someone is in need of medical attention as a result of hazing. The person who calls must also remain...
STLPR •

Missouri Republicans promise action on abortion following judge’s ruling

Republicans in the Missouri House and Senate vowed action Tuesday following a court ruling last week that allowed abortions to resume across the state.A Jackson County judge ruled Friday that certain licensing regulations for abortion providers were discriminatory, as they treated abortion care differently from other comparable types of healthcare.Those regulations had prevented clinics from providing abortions even after the passage of Amendment 3 added a right to abortion to the state constitu...
STLPR •

Missouri House passes anti-lockdown bill to stop government closing houses of worship

The Missouri House of Representatives passed its first four bills of this year’s session on Thursday, including allowing houses of worship to remain open despite a government lockdown.The House also passed bills to end the capital gains tax, preserve the assets of foster children and allow landlords to refuse tenants who receive federal housing assistance.House Bill 75 originated from the COVID-19 pandemic. It would establish a new section of law called the “Missouri Religious Freedom Protection...
STLPR •

Missouri senators consider removing several firearm restrictions

A Missouri Senate committee is considering two bills that would repeal limitations on the carry and use of firearms.Senate Bill 74, sponsored by Stone County Republican Sen. Brad Hudson, would bar cities and counties from imposing their own open carry restrictions.If passed, the bill would be in conflict with local laws in municipalities including St. Louis. The St. Louis Board of Aldermen voted to prohibit people without concealed carry permits from openly carrying firearms in 2023.Mary Gross,...
STLPR •

Missouri AG files anti-DEI lawsuit against Starbucks, alleging hiring discrimination

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit against Starbucks on Tuesday, accusing the company of race- and sex-based discrimination by favoring people of color and women.The lawsuit claims that Starbucks setting goals for the representation of people of color and women in its workforce and leadership amounts to illegal discrimination.The lawsuit states, “Whether described as ‘benign discrimination’ or ‘affirmative action,’ the racial quota is nonetheless a creator of castes, a two-e...
STLPR •

Missouri lawmakers debate exceptions to minimum wage increase

Two bills that would create exceptions to Missouri’s minimum wage laws, such as exempting businesses with fewer than 50 employees, had an initial hearing before a House of Representatives committee Wednesday.Proposition A, which will increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by January 2026, was approved by 57% of voters in November. The proposition also requires employers provide employees an hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.The minimum wage increased to $13.75 an hour on Jan. 1...
STLPR •

Bipartisan group wants to prevent Missouri lawmakers from changing ballot measure approval

A bipartisan group called the Respect Voters Coalition is launching a campaign to prevent Missouri lawmakers from changing the way state ballot measures are approved.“Anything that allows politicians to interfere with the will of the people is something that we oppose vociferously,” said Benjamin Singer, CEO of Show Me Integrity.The initiative petition process, which lets citizens gather signatures to vote on amendments to the state constitution, has allowed multiple progressive policies to beco...
STLPR •

Missouri House speaker sees little interest in immigration bounty bill

Lee este reporte en Español.Missouri House Speaker Jon Patterson said Thursday he sees no appetite in his chamber for a Senate bill that would place bounties on people in the country without legal status.That means that the bill, Senate Bill 72, is unlikely to pass the House.On Monday, a Senate committee spent hours hearing testimony against SB 72 and another bill that would impose harsh penalties for immigration violations.SB 72 would include life imprisonment without parole as a punishment, an...
STLPR •

Missouri may ban child marriage with bipartisan legislation

Bipartisan legislation introduced in the state Senate may bring an end to child marriage in Missouri.A law passed in 2018 raised the minimum age for marrying from 15 to 16 and prohibited anyone over 21 from marrying a minor. That means that 16- and 17-year-olds can still legally marry with parental consent.Democratic Sen. Tracy McCreery and Republican Sen. Rick Brattin have introduced two bills with identical language that would prohibit the practice entirely by raising the age of marriage to 18...
STLPR •

Missouri House committee considers regulating video gambling machines

The Missouri House is considering a bill that would regulate and tax video gambling machines, after multiple failed attempts to pass legislation on the issue in recent years.The machines, called video lottery terminals, are often found in bars and convenience stores.The proposed legislation, House Bill 970, would place the machines under the management of the Missouri Lottery Commission.Currently, the only VLTs operating in Missouri are what are known as “no chance” machines because they don’t h...
STLPR •

Missouri lawmakers hear bill to pay damages to people wrongfully imprisoned

Missouri could be required to pay damages to people wrongfully imprisoned under a bill that had its first hearing Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.Senate Bill 36 would allow exonerated defendants to claim damages of $179 per day of wrongful imprisonment. The amount would be capped at $65,000 per fiscal year.Supporters say passing the bill is necessary because there is currently almost no support available for exonerees after they're freed, despite the major difficulties of obtaini...
Investigate Midwest •

Syngenta spent decades attempting to quiet health concerns about its profitable herbicide.

In 2004, John Platt and his wife purchased 26 acres of untouched woodlands in Florida’s panhandle. As they transformed it into a horse ranch, they toppled trees and stripped the undergrowth with the herbicide paraquat. Through 2012, Platt sprayed the powerful weedkiller for multiple days in a row each year, by hand.When Platt bought the land, he weighed around 190 pounds, he said. Now, as he battles Parkinson’s disease, he’s dropped to under 150 pounds. His symptoms, he said, are incessant. He h...
Investigate Midwest •

GRAPHIC: Most corn planted in the US is engineered to resist herbicides and kill insects - Investigate Midwest

Nearly all of the corn grown in the United States is from genetically engineered seeds designed to resist both bugs and herbicides, a shift that has largely taken place in the past 20 years. Genetically engineered seeds most commonly fall into two broad categories: herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant. Herbicide-tolerant varieties are engineered to resist specific herbicides, such as glyphosate and dicamba, while insect-resistant varieties contain a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuri...
Columbia Missourian •

'We've got more to do:' Love Columbia marks 15 years

Myria Key currently works as a coordinator for downtown nonprofit Love Columbia, but she was once one of the many clients who passed through its doors.“My experience working here is sometimes very surreal, because I’ve been on both sides of the table,” Key said.
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Columbia Missourian •

City's 2030 renewable energy goal would require steep rate increases

Columbia’s goal of energy sustainability by 2030 is running headlong into significant rate increases needed to meet that goal.That’s the conclusion of an outside study presented in a work session ahead of Monday’s City Council meeting.
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Columbia Missourian •

Waner bids farewell to Council service

Second Ward Councilperson Andrea Waner shared candid thoughts on the tough work of being a public servant at her final Council meeting Monday.“I would be lying to you if I said this experience has been easy. It hasn’t,” Waner said.
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Second Ward Councilperson Andrea Waner shared candid thoughts on the toug...
Columbia Missourian •

Noncompliance on federal fair housing costs Missouri $500,000 annually

Every year since 2017, Missouri has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal money as a penalty for the state’s failure to meet the anti-discrimination standards of the federal Fair Housing Act.In 2017 the legislature passed Senate Bill 43, which changed the definition of discrimination in the Missouri Human Rights Act and created an inconsistency with federal law.
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