Nun warns of impact mass deportation on child welfare system

BY: BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ghills/">GRACE HILLS</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

Sherry Lesher stood before lawmakers Thursday holding a photo of her son — who died seven years ago in state custody — pleading for reform.

In 2017, Lesher’s 17-year-old son, A.J. Iverson, died by drug overdose. The day before he died, Lesher begged Saint Francis Ministries, one of the state’s foster care contractors, to take Iverson to a psychiatric residential treatment facility. Saint Francis sent a therapist to his home, but when Iverson, a teenager who struggled with substance abuse, impulsive decision making and who had an autism diagnosis, promised he wouldn’t do drugs again, the contractor refused to intervene. Iverson died in his sleep that night.

Lesher and Iverson’s sister, Ashley Crego, have spent years calling for reform. Last year,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/06/30/parents-plead-for-accountability-and-support-from-kansas-foster-care-system/">Lesher held her son’s ashes up to lawmakers asking for change</a>.&nbsp;

On Thursday, as&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/11/14/kansas-foster-care-compliance-report-raises-concern-with-sleep-only-placement-of-children/">part of two days of hearings</a>&nbsp;aimed at evaluating the state’s progress on child welfare, Lesher continued the fight.&nbsp;

“I don’t want to keep doing this,” Lesher said. “I want to grieve my son, without having Saint Francis attached to it, but I’m still waiting for the state to do the right thing by us in every way possible. These kids — we are losing them.”

The hearings before the joint committee on child welfare system oversight offered a public comment section Thursday. Sister Therese Bangert, social justice coordinator for the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth shared a wide range of concerns for the child welfare system.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

With President-elect Donald Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/inside-trumps-plan-mass-deportations-who-wants-stop-him-2024-11-06/" target="_blank">promises of mass deportations</a>, Sister Therese brought forward concerns for vulnerable children who are citizens but whose parents are not.&nbsp;

“I want to lift up some of the children that are on my heart these days,” Bangert said. “If the mass deportations are carried through, we will have citizen children in Kansas who will lose a mother or father, sister or brother and more. I believe we will have families losing the person who financially supports them. Please be mindful of the needs of these children and their extended families and how we will address these needs.”

She encouraged committee members to consider the words of Republican Senate President Ty Masterson, who said children don’t care if someone is a Republican or Democrat.

A 2018 class-action lawsuit against the state that challenged the state’s poor treatment of foster children led to a settlement that agreed on deadlines for making gradual improvements to the foster care system. At Wednesday’s committee meeting, court-appointed monitor for the improvements Judith Meltzer said&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/11/14/kansas-foster-care-compliance-report-raises-concern-with-sleep-only-placement-of-children/">the state failed to meet the majority of the targets</a>.&nbsp;

Meltzer found that there was a decline in delivery of behavioral and mental health services. Those were the services Lesher requested back in 2017 for her son.&nbsp;

Laura Howard, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, acknowledged the deficiencies, but pointed to the lowering number of children in foster care — 7,600 in June 2019 compared to 5,800 in June 2024.&nbsp;

When some parents, like Lesher, aren’t provided the help they need for their children, some children are relinquished to the foster care system or end up at psychiatric residential treatment facilities. In 2023,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-03-14/some-kansas-families-say-even-foster-care-isnt-equipped-for-their-high-needs-kids" target="_blank">the state removed 57 children with special needs</a>&nbsp;from their homes because their families could not meet their level of care.

When Iverson was 4, Lesher applied for the intellectual and developmental disability waiver but never received help. The current waitlist to access these services is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.drckansas.org/resource-center/hcbs/endthewait#:~:text=Currently%2C%20the%20waitlist%20to%20access,and%20tailored%20to%20the%20individual." target="_blank">about nine years</a>, meaning children often age out before they can access them. Democratic&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/03/15/state-budget-blueprint-leaves-out-kansans-who-need-state-disability-services/">Gov. Laura Kelly proposed $23 million</a>&nbsp;to assist the families waiting on disability waivers, which Republicans opposed.&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/24/kansas-disability-waitlists-see-major-progress-after-legislative-action/">Republicans invested $17.8 million in the waivers</a>, and have successfully reduced the waitlists.&nbsp;

Iverson was placed in family preservation services, meaning he stayed with his family but was given a foster care caseworker. Lesher said she spent Iverson’s entire life fighting for him to get support he never received.&nbsp;

Iverson’s sister, Ashley Crego, stood by Lesher at the 2023 committee meeting. This year, note the disillusionment she feels, she provided a written statement instead of appearing in-person.

“This is going to keep happening to other families in a multitude of ways,” Crego wrote. “This is what we were trying to prevent. Agencies will change their names and pass any accountability onto the next and leave a trail of dead kids, or kids that ‘fell through the cracks’ in their path and if it turns a profit, no one will bat an eye.

“You will all go home to your families and mine will go home to A.J.’s urn. These meetings in the last two years have made me lose every bit of faith in any regulatory system or oversight committee and that has been the most discouraging thing of all.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731965940288.png" alt=" Sherry Lesher, a mother whose son died in state custody, holds a photo of her son during a Nov. 14, 2024, meeting of the child welfare oversight committee, begging lawmakers for reform. To the left is Sister Therese Bangert, social justice coordinator for the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. (Kansas Reflector screen capture from Kansas Legislature video)" />
 <figcaption> Sherry Lesher, a mother whose son died in state custody, holds a photo of her son during a Nov. 14, 2024, meeting of the child welfare oversight committee, begging lawmakers for reform. To the left is Sister Therese Bangert, social justice coordinator for the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. (Kansas Reflector screen capture from Kansas Legislature video)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Nun warns of impact mass deportation on child welfare system</h2>BY: BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ghills/">GRACE HILLS</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>Sherry Lesher stood before lawmakers Thursday holding a photo of her son — who died seven years ago in state custody — pleading for reform.In 2017, Lesher’s 17-year-old son, A.J. Iverson, died by drug overdose. The day before he died, Lesher begged Saint Francis Ministries, one of the state’s foster care contractors, to take Iverson to a psychiatric residential treatment facility. Saint Francis sent a therapist to his home, but when Iverson, a teenager who struggled with substance abuse, impulsive decision making and who had an autism diagnosis, promised he wouldn’t do drugs again, the contractor refused to intervene. Iverson died in his sleep that night.Lesher and Iverson’s sister, Ashley Crego, have spent years calling for reform. Last year,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/06/30/parents-plead-for-accountability-and-support-from-kansas-foster-care-system/">Lesher held her son’s ashes up to lawmakers asking for change</a>.&nbsp;On Thursday, as&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/11/14/kansas-foster-care-compliance-report-raises-concern-with-sleep-only-placement-of-children/">part of two days of hearings</a>&nbsp;aimed at evaluating the state’s progress on child welfare, Lesher continued the fight.&nbsp;“I don’t want to keep doing this,” Lesher said. “I want to grieve my son, without having Saint Francis attached to it, but I’m still waiting for the state to do the right thing by us in every way possible. These kids — we are losing them.”The hearings before the joint committee on child welfare system oversight offered a public comment section Thursday. Sister Therese Bangert, social justice coordinator for the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth shared a wide range of concerns for the child welfare system.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With President-elect Donald Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/inside-trumps-plan-mass-deportations-who-wants-stop-him-2024-11-06/" target="_blank">promises of mass deportations</a>, Sister Therese brought forward concerns for vulnerable children who are citizens but whose parents are not.&nbsp;“I want to lift up some of the children that are on my heart these days,” Bangert said. “If the mass deportations are carried through, we will have citizen children in Kansas who will lose a mother or father, sister or brother and more. I believe we will have families losing the person who financially supports them. Please be mindful of the needs of these children and their extended families and how we will address these needs.”She encouraged committee members to consider the words of Republican Senate President Ty Masterson, who said children don’t care if someone is a Republican or Democrat.A 2018 class-action lawsuit against the state that challenged the state’s poor treatment of foster children led to a settlement that agreed on deadlines for making gradual improvements to the foster care system. At Wednesday’s committee meeting, court-appointed monitor for the improvements Judith Meltzer said&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/11/14/kansas-foster-care-compliance-report-raises-concern-with-sleep-only-placement-of-children/">the state failed to meet the majority of the targets</a>.&nbsp;Meltzer found that there was a decline in delivery of behavioral and mental health services. Those were the services Lesher requested back in 2017 for her son.&nbsp;Laura Howard, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, acknowledged the deficiencies, but pointed to the lowering number of children in foster care — 7,600 in June 2019 compared to 5,800 in June 2024.&nbsp;When some parents, like Lesher, aren’t provided the help they need for their children, some children are relinquished to the foster care system or end up at psychiatric residential treatment facilities. In 2023,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-03-14/some-kansas-families-say-even-foster-care-isnt-equipped-for-their-high-needs-kids" target="_blank">the state removed 57 children with special needs</a>&nbsp;from their homes because their families could not meet their level of care.When Iverson was 4, Lesher applied for the intellectual and developmental disability waiver but never received help. The current waitlist to access these services is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.drckansas.org/resource-center/hcbs/endthewait#:~:text=Currently%2C%20the%20waitlist%20to%20access,and%20tailored%20to%20the%20individual." target="_blank">about nine years</a>, meaning children often age out before they can access them. Democratic&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/03/15/state-budget-blueprint-leaves-out-kansans-who-need-state-disability-services/">Gov. Laura Kelly proposed $23 million</a>&nbsp;to assist the families waiting on disability waivers, which Republicans opposed.&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/10/24/kansas-disability-waitlists-see-major-progress-after-legislative-action/">Republicans invested $17.8 million in the waivers</a>, and have successfully reduced the waitlists.&nbsp;Iverson was placed in family preservation services, meaning he stayed with his family but was given a foster care caseworker. Lesher said she spent Iverson’s entire life fighting for him to get support he never received.&nbsp;Iverson’s sister, Ashley Crego, stood by Lesher at the 2023 committee meeting. This year, note the disillusionment she feels, she provided a written statement instead of appearing in-person.“This is going to keep happening to other families in a multitude of ways,” Crego wrote. “This is what we were trying to prevent. Agencies will change their names and pass any accountability onto the next and leave a trail of dead kids, or kids that ‘fell through the cracks’ in their path and if it turns a profit, no one will bat an eye.“You will all go home to your families and mine will go home to A.J.’s urn. These meetings in the last two years have made me lose every bit of faith in any regulatory system or oversight committee and that has been the most discouraging thing of all.”

Mother returns to Kansas Statehouse with photo of boy who died in foster care, pleading for change

ALLEN COUNTY—One person died in an accident just after 4:30a.m. Monday in Allen County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1997 Dodge Dakota driven by Eric Leon&nbsp;Guenther, 57, Humboldt, was northbound on 800th Road&nbsp; just north of Delaware Road and one mile west of Humboldt.

The Dodge went into a spin and struck a southbound 2003 Ford Ranger driven by Steven&nbsp;Yost, 53, Humboldt, head-on.&nbsp;

EMS transported Guenther to&nbsp;Allen County Regional Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.&nbsp; EMS transported Yost to Neosho Memorial Hospital for treatment of serious injuries. Both drivers were properly restrained, according to the KHP.

ALLEN COUNTY—One person died in an accident just after 4:30a.m. Monday in Allen County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1997 Dodge Dakota driven by Eric Leon&nbsp;Guenther, 57, Humboldt, was northbound on 800th Road&nbsp; just north of Delaware Road and one mile west of Humboldt.The Dodge went into a spin and struck a southbound 2003 Ford Ranger driven by Steven&nbsp;Yost, 53, Humboldt, head-on.&nbsp;EMS transported Guenther to&nbsp;Allen County Regional Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.&nbsp; EMS transported Yost to Neosho Memorial Hospital for treatment of serious injuries. Both drivers were properly restrained, according to the KHP.

Kansas driver dead, another injured after head-on pickup crash

Almost 10,000 votes not reported on Election Day in Christian County go heavily against Amendment 2, while small changes elsewhere in the state add to majority.

BY:&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>

A late report adding nearly 10,000 votes to Christian County’s election results has narrowed the margin&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/06/missouri-voters-narrowly-approve-sports-betting-amendment/">for Missouri’s sports betting amendment</a>&nbsp;and put it in range for a possible recount.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://ccmoelections.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/OFFICIAL_Election_Summary.pdf" target="_blank">official results</a>&nbsp;from Christian County, certified last week, increased the county’s vote total on Amendment 2 by 9,653, with a margin of 3,995 votes against sports betting among the additional ballots. Added to the statewide tally maintained by the Secretary of State’s office, just that change would shrink the statewide margin from a 4,363-vote majority on Election Day to a mere 368 votes as of Monday out of nearly 3 million votes cast.

But other changes will be made as the 116 election jurisdictions around the state certify their results, a process that must be completed by Tuesday. The Independent checked websites for the 50 counties with the highest number of votes on Amendment 2, finding official results in 25.

In most of those jurisdictions, a few dozen, or at most, a few hundred additional votes were reported in the final tallies. With those votes included, the majority for Amendment 2 stood at 720 votes.

That would be well within the 0.5% margin for a recount if it is requested. A recount would not be automatic.

None of the eight largest voting jurisdictions, representing half the total statewide vote, have certified final results. All eight passed Amendment 2 by strong majorities.

Final state certification of the results must occur by Dec. 10. Any recount would take place after that certification.

Jack Cardetti, spokesman for Winning for Missouri Education, which backed Amendment 2, said the campaign is confident the margin will hold up. The counties that have certified the Nov. 5 results include many where the majority went against the amendment but the additional votes reported favor the proposal.

“The fact that even the provisional ballots are coming in on the net side for us is good, so you can imagine what St. Louis and Kansas City will show,” Cardetti said.

The campaign is monitoring the final certifications, he said.

“We’re gonna watch them very carefully today and tomorrow as they come in,” he said.

The reason Christian County reported 40,622 ballots for Amendment 2 on election night and 50,275 in the official results is because of the huge volume of early votes received and limitations imposed by the ballot counting equipment, said Eryn Flood, deputy clerk and director of elections.

County clerks must accept ballots from overseas military voters that arrive by the Friday after an election as well as tallying any provisional ballots determined to be valid, Flood said.

“With us having such a high volume of absentees, we were running out of machines, and so we had to keep three machines open to ensure that we had enough room for Friday,” Flood said.

This was the first presidential election where Missourians had two weeks of “<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/10/30/increasing-every-day-voters-line-up-across-missouri-for-chance-to-cast-ballot-early/">no excuse absentee voting</a>” to cast ballots before Election Day. Hundreds of thousands of voters took advantage of the law.

“We might have to look into, for presidential elections at least, having more machines,” Flood said. “I don’t think the entire state of Missouri was ready for the amount of people coming in their offices to vote.”

Of the counties that have certified their results, the largest number of additional votes for Amendment 2 were reported in Boone County, where an additional 243 “yes” votes were reported against 115 additional “no” votes.

If the margin remains at about 700 votes, that would be a majority of 0.03% of the statewide vote, well within the 0.5% margin that would&nbsp;<a href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=115.601&amp;bid=6240&amp;hl=" target="_blank">qualify it for a recount</a>. JoDonn Chaney, spokesman for Secretary of State Jay Aschcroft, said Monday that the recount must be requested by someone representing the campaign against the amendment.

“Only certain groups, not anybody, can request it,” Chaney said.

In an email, Chaney said Ashcroft and previous secretaries have interpreted the law to mean only people with a direct interest in the issue can request a recount.

“As we are not an adjudicatory body, any change in this interpretation would need to come from the courts,” Chaney said.

Winning for Missouri Education raised the most money in Missouri history for a ballot measure, spending nearly $40 million to get on the ballot and advertise during the fall campaign. The opposition, Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment, raised $15 million to defeat it but&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/opponents-of-missouri-sports-betting-amendment-pull-tv-ads-in-campaigns-homestretch/">pulled its ads</a>&nbsp;three weeks before the election.

“We have no plans to request a recount at this time,” Brooke Foster, spokeswoman for the opponents, said Monday.

The language in state law, however, doesn’t limit recount requests to groups formally organized to oppose a ballot measure. The last statewide recount of a ballot measure was in 2014, when Amendment 1, known as the Right to Farm amendment, passed by 2,490 votes during the Aug. 5, 2014, primary.

Wes Shoemyer, a former state lawmaker, was the treasurer for Missouri’s Food for America, which opposed the Right to Farm amendment. He&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/ElectionResultsStatistics/RecountRequest.pdf" target="_blank">requested a recount</a>, but it was based on his status as a voter who opposed the measure, not his position with the opposition campaign.

“The voter has more rights than the treasurer,” Shoemyer said. “Anybody who wants to come out and say they voted no can ask for it.”

Recounts rarely change the outcome of an election but it was important to make sure, Shoemyer said. On the Right to Farm amendment, the majority&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/ElectionResultsStatistics/RecountCertification.pdf" target="_blank">narrowed to 2,375 votes</a>.

“You might get lucky, man,” Shoemyer said. “We were less than one quarter of 1%, and things have been counted wrong. You know, mistakes have been made.”

The backers of Amendment 2 are confident they will prevail in the official tallies and any recount&nbsp;

“We’re watching the votes come in extremely carefully here, but we feel really good about where we’re at,” Cardetti said. “We’re going to win this election when every last vote comes in.”

<h2>Almost 10,000 votes not reported on Election Day in Christian County go heavily against Amendment 2, while small changes elsewhere in the state add to majority.</h2>BY:&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>A late report adding nearly 10,000 votes to Christian County’s election results has narrowed the margin&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/06/missouri-voters-narrowly-approve-sports-betting-amendment/">for Missouri’s sports betting amendment</a>&nbsp;and put it in range for a possible recount.The&nbsp;<a href="https://ccmoelections.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/OFFICIAL_Election_Summary.pdf" target="_blank">official results</a>&nbsp;from Christian County, certified last week, increased the county’s vote total on Amendment 2 by 9,653, with a margin of 3,995 votes against sports betting among the additional ballots. Added to the statewide tally maintained by the Secretary of State’s office, just that change would shrink the statewide margin from a 4,363-vote majority on Election Day to a mere 368 votes as of Monday out of nearly 3 million votes cast.But other changes will be made as the 116 election jurisdictions around the state certify their results, a process that must be completed by Tuesday. The Independent checked websites for the 50 counties with the highest number of votes on Amendment 2, finding official results in 25.In most of those jurisdictions, a few dozen, or at most, a few hundred additional votes were reported in the final tallies. With those votes included, the majority for Amendment 2 stood at 720 votes.That would be well within the 0.5% margin for a recount if it is requested. A recount would not be automatic.None of the eight largest voting jurisdictions, representing half the total statewide vote, have certified final results. All eight passed Amendment 2 by strong majorities.Final state certification of the results must occur by Dec. 10. Any recount would take place after that certification.Jack Cardetti, spokesman for Winning for Missouri Education, which backed Amendment 2, said the campaign is confident the margin will hold up. The counties that have certified the Nov. 5 results include many where the majority went against the amendment but the additional votes reported favor the proposal.“The fact that even the provisional ballots are coming in on the net side for us is good, so you can imagine what St. Louis and Kansas City will show,” Cardetti said.The campaign is monitoring the final certifications, he said.“We’re gonna watch them very carefully today and tomorrow as they come in,” he said.The reason Christian County reported 40,622 ballots for Amendment 2 on election night and 50,275 in the official results is because of the huge volume of early votes received and limitations imposed by the ballot counting equipment, said Eryn Flood, deputy clerk and director of elections.County clerks must accept ballots from overseas military voters that arrive by the Friday after an election as well as tallying any provisional ballots determined to be valid, Flood said.“With us having such a high volume of absentees, we were running out of machines, and so we had to keep three machines open to ensure that we had enough room for Friday,” Flood said.This was the first presidential election where Missourians had two weeks of “<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/10/30/increasing-every-day-voters-line-up-across-missouri-for-chance-to-cast-ballot-early/">no excuse absentee voting</a>” to cast ballots before Election Day. Hundreds of thousands of voters took advantage of the law.“We might have to look into, for presidential elections at least, having more machines,” Flood said. “I don’t think the entire state of Missouri was ready for the amount of people coming in their offices to vote.”Of the counties that have certified their results, the largest number of additional votes for Amendment 2 were reported in Boone County, where an additional 243 “yes” votes were reported against 115 additional “no” votes.If the margin remains at about 700 votes, that would be a majority of 0.03% of the statewide vote, well within the 0.5% margin that would&nbsp;<a href="https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=115.601&amp;bid=6240&amp;hl=" target="_blank">qualify it for a recount</a>. JoDonn Chaney, spokesman for Secretary of State Jay Aschcroft, said Monday that the recount must be requested by someone representing the campaign against the amendment.“Only certain groups, not anybody, can request it,” Chaney said.In an email, Chaney said Ashcroft and previous secretaries have interpreted the law to mean only people with a direct interest in the issue can request a recount.“As we are not an adjudicatory body, any change in this interpretation would need to come from the courts,” Chaney said.Winning for Missouri Education raised the most money in Missouri history for a ballot measure, spending nearly $40 million to get on the ballot and advertise during the fall campaign. The opposition, Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment, raised $15 million to defeat it but&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/opponents-of-missouri-sports-betting-amendment-pull-tv-ads-in-campaigns-homestretch/">pulled its ads</a>&nbsp;three weeks before the election.“We have no plans to request a recount at this time,” Brooke Foster, spokeswoman for the opponents, said Monday.The language in state law, however, doesn’t limit recount requests to groups formally organized to oppose a ballot measure. The last statewide recount of a ballot measure was in 2014, when Amendment 1, known as the Right to Farm amendment, passed by 2,490 votes during the Aug. 5, 2014, primary.Wes Shoemyer, a former state lawmaker, was the treasurer for Missouri’s Food for America, which opposed the Right to Farm amendment. He&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/ElectionResultsStatistics/RecountRequest.pdf" target="_blank">requested a recount</a>, but it was based on his status as a voter who opposed the measure, not his position with the opposition campaign.“The voter has more rights than the treasurer,” Shoemyer said. “Anybody who wants to come out and say they voted no can ask for it.”Recounts rarely change the outcome of an election but it was important to make sure, Shoemyer said. On the Right to Farm amendment, the majority&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/ElectionResultsStatistics/RecountCertification.pdf" target="_blank">narrowed to 2,375 votes</a>.“You might get lucky, man,” Shoemyer said. “We were less than one quarter of 1%, and things have been counted wrong. You know, mistakes have been made.”The backers of Amendment 2 are confident they will prevail in the official tallies and any recount&nbsp;“We’re watching the votes come in extremely carefully here, but we feel really good about where we’re at,” Cardetti said. “We’re going to win this election when every last vote comes in.”

Margin on Missouri sports betting amendment narrows as counties tally official results

RAY COUNTY&nbsp;—Law enforcement are conducting an officer-involved shooting and a death investigation surrounding a domestic disturbance in Lawson, Missouri, according to a media release from he Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Just after 7:30p.m. Sunday, police responded to report of a domestic disturbance at a home in the 200 Block of Montgomery Street in Lawson.

Lawson Police requested assistance from the Ray County sheriff's office. An officer and sheriff's deputy arrived at the scene and were informed a man had been assaulting woman inside the residence. They also learned a child was inside the residence. The male suspect presented a firearm and fired at the officers, striking the Ray County deputy. Officers returned fire and retreated outside the home.&nbsp;

Multiple law enforcement agencies from surrounding jurisdictions responded to assist including the Clay County Sheriff's office STAR team.&nbsp; With information that additional gunfire had been heard from inside the home and a child may be held hostage, the Clay County STAR team entered the residence just after 9p.m.&nbsp; Deputies found the man and a juvenile deceased.&nbsp;

EMS transported the deputy to the&nbsp; hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.&nbsp; The deputy was treated and released&nbsp; Police also found the woman victim from the original call and she was safe.

RAY COUNTY&nbsp;—Law enforcement are conducting an officer-involved shooting and a death investigation surrounding a domestic disturbance in Lawson, Missouri, according to a media release from he Missouri State Highway Patrol.Just after 7:30p.m. Sunday, police responded to report of a domestic disturbance at a home in the 200 Block of Montgomery Street in Lawson.Lawson Police requested assistance from the Ray County sheriff's office. An officer and sheriff's deputy arrived at the scene and were informed a man had been assaulting woman inside the residence. They also learned a child was inside the residence. The male suspect presented a firearm and fired at the officers, striking the Ray County deputy. Officers returned fire and retreated outside the home.&nbsp;Multiple law enforcement agencies from surrounding jurisdictions responded to assist including the Clay County Sheriff's office STAR team.&nbsp; With information that additional gunfire had been heard from inside the home and a child may be held hostage, the Clay County STAR team entered the residence just after 9p.m.&nbsp; Deputies found the man and a juvenile deceased.&nbsp;EMS transported the deputy to the&nbsp; hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.&nbsp; The deputy was treated and released&nbsp; Police also found the woman victim from the original call and she was safe.

Child and man dead, Mo. deputy wounded after assault led to police shooting 

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating a weekend shooting have made an arrest.

Just after 2 a.m. Saturday, police&nbsp;responded to a reported shooting in the 400 block of SW Lincoln in Topeka, according to Police Lt. Edwrd Stanley.

First responders found an individual who had life-threatening injuries and they were transported to a local hospital.

Just after 5:30 p.m. Saturday, police took 21-year-old William E. A. Hill of Topeka into custody on requested charges of Aggravated Battery.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731882145533.png" alt="Hill photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Hill photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating a weekend shooting have made an arrest.Just after 2 a.m. Saturday, police&nbsp;responded to a reported shooting in the 400 block of SW Lincoln in Topeka, according to Police Lt. Edwrd Stanley.First responders found an individual who had life-threatening injuries and they were transported to a local hospital.Just after 5:30 p.m. Saturday, police took 21-year-old William E. A. Hill of Topeka into custody on requested charges of Aggravated Battery.

Kan. shooting sent victim to the hospital with critical injuries

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — Kansas is expected to take in about $72 million less in tax revenue next year than initial estimates projected, officials said.

The revised state revenue estimate announced Friday is the first since Gov. Laura Kelly&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/06/21/gov-kelly-signs-tax-reduction-bill-passed-with-bipartisan-majorities-in-special-session/">signed a major bipartisan tax cut bill</a>&nbsp;in June, which is expected to slash state taxes by $1.2 billion in the next two and a half years.

The new estimate contained updated projections for state general fund revenue for fiscal year 2025, which ends in June.&nbsp;

Officials estimated the state government will take in about $9.73 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2025, which is a 4%, or $400 million, decrease from 2024 total receipts. While tax revenues are expected to decrease in 2025, estimates for other revenue sources increased by more than $12 million.

The revised estimate is crafted through a consensus process with state officials and three consulting economists from state universities. Kelly and the Legislature will use the revised estimate to inform the annual budget process.&nbsp;

Officials also presented their first estimates for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 2025, and they predicted $9.85 billion in revenue, an increase from the revised fiscal year 2025 estimate.

In the spring, when officials last updated the state’s revenue estimates, the state’s revenue and economy were deemed “stable,” said Shirley Morrow, director of the Kansas Legislative Research Department, at a Friday press conference.&nbsp;

“That is relatively the same,” Morrow said.

However, some risks still exist, she said. Among them are persistent inflation, high interest rates, potential global geopolitical impacts on commodities, and price declines in the agricultural sector that began in 2023.

Over the past year, overall “farm financial conditions have deteriorated,” she said.

“We still have worries over drought conditions, which seem to have gotten a little worse over most of the state,” she said.

Following officials’ spring estimate, the number of open jobs and the number of available employees have moved closer together, and Kansas jobs have grown by 20,500, Morrow said. But job openings continue to outpace the number of unemployed individuals.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/9/1664035042806.png" alt="A new state revenue estimate shows the state collecting $72 million less than expected in the current fiscal year, and $400 million less than the previous year." />
 <figcaption>A new state revenue estimate shows the state collecting $72 million less than expected in the current fiscal year, and $400 million less than the previous year.</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/akaminski/">ANNA KAMINSKI</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Kansas is expected to take in about $72 million less in tax revenue next year than initial estimates projected, officials said.The revised state revenue estimate announced Friday is the first since Gov. Laura Kelly&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2024/06/21/gov-kelly-signs-tax-reduction-bill-passed-with-bipartisan-majorities-in-special-session/">signed a major bipartisan tax cut bill</a>&nbsp;in June, which is expected to slash state taxes by $1.2 billion in the next two and a half years.The new estimate contained updated projections for state general fund revenue for fiscal year 2025, which ends in June.&nbsp;Officials estimated the state government will take in about $9.73 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2025, which is a 4%, or $400 million, decrease from 2024 total receipts. While tax revenues are expected to decrease in 2025, estimates for other revenue sources increased by more than $12 million.The revised estimate is crafted through a consensus process with state officials and three consulting economists from state universities. Kelly and the Legislature will use the revised estimate to inform the annual budget process.&nbsp;Officials also presented their first estimates for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 2025, and they predicted $9.85 billion in revenue, an increase from the revised fiscal year 2025 estimate.In the spring, when officials last updated the state’s revenue estimates, the state’s revenue and economy were deemed “stable,” said Shirley Morrow, director of the Kansas Legislative Research Department, at a Friday press conference.&nbsp;“That is relatively the same,” Morrow said.However, some risks still exist, she said. Among them are persistent inflation, high interest rates, potential global geopolitical impacts on commodities, and price declines in the agricultural sector that began in 2023.Over the past year, overall “farm financial conditions have deteriorated,” she said.“We still have worries over drought conditions, which seem to have gotten a little worse over most of the state,” she said.Following officials’ spring estimate, the number of open jobs and the number of available employees have moved closer together, and Kansas jobs have grown by 20,500, Morrow said. But job openings continue to outpace the number of unemployed individuals.

Kansas tax revenue projected to decline by $72M after tax cut bill

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are investigating deadly shooting in a Kansas City area restaurant parking lot.

Just before 11p.m. Saturday, police responded to a shooting in the parking lot of Twin Peaks,&nbsp;19821 E Jackson Drive in Independence, according to a media release from police.

First responders found a man with a gunshot wound lying in the parking lot. EMS transported him to a local hospital where he were pronounced deceased. Police took a person of interest into custody at the scene.

Anyone with information on this case can call the Crimestoppers TIPS Hotline to leave a tip. The number is 816-474-8477.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731895216611.png" alt="First responders on the scene of the investigation -photo courtesy KMBC" />
 <figcaption>First responders on the scene of the investigation -photo courtesy KMBC</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are investigating deadly shooting in a Kansas City area restaurant parking lot.Just before 11p.m. Saturday, police responded to a shooting in the parking lot of Twin Peaks,&nbsp;19821 E Jackson Drive in Independence, according to a media release from police.First responders found a man with a gunshot wound lying in the parking lot. EMS transported him to a local hospital where he were pronounced deceased. Police took a person of interest into custody at the scene.Anyone with information on this case can call the Crimestoppers TIPS Hotline to leave a tip. The number is 816-474-8477.

Police: Fatal shooting in KC area restaurant parking lot

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A California man was sentenced to 240 months in prison after soliciting and receiving child pornography.

According to court documents, Timothy Vigil, 38, of Lemore, California pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography, according to the United State's Attorney.

In 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Jordan Escobar, 18, of Kansas City, Kansas. Escobar admitted to recording child sexual abuse material then distributing it on an online platform.&nbsp; After reviewing Escobar’s electronic devices and a subsequent investigation, agents identified Timothy Vigil as the owner of an account to which Escobar sent the images. 

Vigil direct messaged Escobar specifically requesting materials containing child pornography.

Between December 2023 and January 2024, Vigil also distributed 29 MEGA links to other platform users that contained child sexual abuse material, including more than 3,000 videos.

Escobar pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography and is awaiting sentencing. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated the case.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731440111988.png" alt="Escobar photo Wyandotte County" />
 <figcaption>Escobar photo Wyandotte County</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A California man was sentenced to 240 months in prison after soliciting and receiving child pornography.According to court documents, Timothy Vigil, 38, of Lemore, California pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography, according to the United State's Attorney.In 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Jordan Escobar, 18, of Kansas City, Kansas. Escobar admitted to recording child sexual abuse material then distributing it on an online platform.&nbsp; After reviewing Escobar’s electronic devices and a subsequent investigation, agents identified Timothy Vigil as the owner of an account to which Escobar sent the images. Vigil direct messaged Escobar specifically requesting materials containing child pornography.Between December 2023 and January 2024, Vigil also distributed 29 MEGA links to other platform users that contained child sexual abuse material, including more than 3,000 videos.Escobar pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography and is awaiting sentencing. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated the case.

Kansas teen recorded child sex abuse, sent it to California man

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are investigating an officer-involved shooting that sent one person to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to a media release from the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control.

Just before 12:30a.m. Sunday, a trooper initiated a traffic stop for speeding on northbound Interstate 35 just south of Missouri 210 Highway in Clay County.

The driver failed to yield and accelerated north before exiting the highway and traveling back southbound on Interstate 35 into Jackson County.&nbsp;

A helicopter from the Kansas Highway Patrol was monitoring the pursuit on a regional communications channel and arrived overhead. Missouri Troopers on the ground discontinued the pursuit, remained in the area and followed updates from the KHP helicopter. The KHP helicopter was eventually requited to return to Kansas on another call.

MSHP Troopers proceeded to the last known location of the suspect vehicle and at 12:40a.m. relocated it. The suspect vehicle came to a stop at Linwood Boulevard and Van Brunt Avenue. Troopers attempted to prevent the suspect from fleeing a second time by placing vehicles in front and behind the suspect vehicle.

As troopers exited their patrol vehicles, the driver reversed, struck one of the patrol vehicles and began traveling forward in the path of a trooper standing outside of his patrol vehicle. The trooper fired his duty weapon at the suspect vehicle. The suspect continued to drive away, traveling onto westbound Interstate 70 before exiting at Prospect Avenue.&nbsp; The vehicle came to a stop at Prospect and 13th Street after becoming disabled.

The driver ran from the vehicle but was taken into custody. Troopers also detained two passengers from the vehicle. One had a gunshot wounds.&nbsp; Troopers provided medical attention until EMS arrived and transported the passenger to a local hospital for treatment. No troopers were injured.&nbsp;

The Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control and the KCMO Police Department are investigating the incident and collecting evidence. Police have not released the names of those involved or possible charges.

KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement are investigating an officer-involved shooting that sent one person to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to a media release from the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control.Just before 12:30a.m. Sunday, a trooper initiated a traffic stop for speeding on northbound Interstate 35 just south of Missouri 210 Highway in Clay County.The driver failed to yield and accelerated north before exiting the highway and traveling back southbound on Interstate 35 into Jackson County.&nbsp;A helicopter from the Kansas Highway Patrol was monitoring the pursuit on a regional communications channel and arrived overhead. Missouri Troopers on the ground discontinued the pursuit, remained in the area and followed updates from the KHP helicopter. The KHP helicopter was eventually requited to return to Kansas on another call.MSHP Troopers proceeded to the last known location of the suspect vehicle and at 12:40a.m. relocated it. The suspect vehicle came to a stop at Linwood Boulevard and Van Brunt Avenue. Troopers attempted to prevent the suspect from fleeing a second time by placing vehicles in front and behind the suspect vehicle.As troopers exited their patrol vehicles, the driver reversed, struck one of the patrol vehicles and began traveling forward in the path of a trooper standing outside of his patrol vehicle. The trooper fired his duty weapon at the suspect vehicle. The suspect continued to drive away, traveling onto westbound Interstate 70 before exiting at Prospect Avenue.&nbsp; The vehicle came to a stop at Prospect and 13th Street after becoming disabled.The driver ran from the vehicle but was taken into custody. Troopers also detained two passengers from the vehicle. One had a gunshot wounds.&nbsp; Troopers provided medical attention until EMS arrived and transported the passenger to a local hospital for treatment. No troopers were injured.&nbsp;The Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control and the KCMO Police Department are investigating the incident and collecting evidence. Police have not released the names of those involved or possible charges.

Passenger wounded after KC chase, State Trooper shooting

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">SHAUNEEN MIRANDA</a>

WASHINGTON — A measure to ensure the federal student aid form opens up annually by Oct. 1 passed the U.S. House Friday with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-118hr8932rh/pdf/BILLS-118hr8932rh.pdf" target="_blank">effort</a>&nbsp;— which passed 381-1 — came after the U.S. Department of Education faced major backlash over the botched rollout of the 2024-25&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/dont-give-fafsa-advocates-student-financial-aid-urge" target="_blank">Free Application for Federal Student Aid</a>, or FAFSA. California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren was the only lawmaker to vote against the bill.&nbsp;

Though the form got a makeover after Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in late 2020, users faced multiple glitches and technical errors throughout the form’s soft launch in December and past its full debut in January, prompting processing delays and gaps in submissions.

The department has worked to correct these glitches and close that gap while also fixing major issues that prevented parents without Social Security numbers from completing the form.

Adding another complication, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-education-department-gradually-roll-out-new-fafsa-form-dec-1" target="_blank">department said in August</a>&nbsp;it would use a phased rollout of the 2025-26 form in an attempt to address any errors that might arise before it opens up to everyone — making the application fully available two months later than usual.

Though the department legally has until Jan. 1 to roll out the form, it typically launches Oct. 1.

U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin, an Indiana Republican and member of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, in July&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8932" target="_blank">introduced the bill</a>&nbsp;to standardize that deadline.

“I’m especially frustrated considering the Department of Education has had three years to simplify the FAFSA as Congress has dictated,” Houchin said during floor debate Friday.

She also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/gaps-fafsa-rollout-are-closing-watchdog-tells-us-house-panel" target="_blank">referenced recent findings</a>&nbsp;from the Government Accountability Office, including that nearly three-quarters of all calls to the call center went unanswered in the first five months of the 2024-25 rollout.

“We want this program to work — we want to make sure that children and families that want to send their kids to college have the availability to do that and that the FAFSA is available and workable,” she added.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, ranking member of the House education panel, echoed his support during the floor debate, saying the measure will “help ensure that even more students have the information they need in a timelier manner to access Pell Grants and other vital student aid.”

Scott initially opposed the effort when the committee took it up in July out of concerns that the implementation deadline could force the department to roll out an incomplete form on Oct. 1 of this year.

“However, because we’re now considering the bill after Oct. 1, the deadline will apply next year, 2025, and that gives the department ample time to make improvements and fix any lingering issues,” the Virginia Democrat said.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4632" target="_blank">introduced a companion bill</a>&nbsp;in July.

The bill was referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where Cassidy serves as ranking member. After Republicans won a Senate majority in the Nov. 5 elections,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/ranking/newsroom/press/cassidy-to-chair-help-committee-in-119th-congress" target="_blank">Cassidy is in line</a>&nbsp;to chair the panel next year.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1727807641728.png" alt=" A sign reminding people to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — better known as FAFSA — appears on a bus near Union Station in Washington, D.C. (Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)" />
 <figcaption> A sign reminding people to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — better known as FAFSA — appears on a bus near Union Station in Washington, D.C. (Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/shauneen-miranda/">SHAUNEEN MIRANDA</a>WASHINGTON — A measure to ensure the federal student aid form opens up annually by Oct. 1 passed the U.S. House Friday with overwhelming bipartisan support.The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-118hr8932rh/pdf/BILLS-118hr8932rh.pdf" target="_blank">effort</a>&nbsp;— which passed 381-1 — came after the U.S. Department of Education faced major backlash over the botched rollout of the 2024-25&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/dont-give-fafsa-advocates-student-financial-aid-urge" target="_blank">Free Application for Federal Student Aid</a>, or FAFSA. California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren was the only lawmaker to vote against the bill.&nbsp;Though the form got a makeover after Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in late 2020, users faced multiple glitches and technical errors throughout the form’s soft launch in December and past its full debut in January, prompting processing delays and gaps in submissions.The department has worked to correct these glitches and close that gap while also fixing major issues that prevented parents without Social Security numbers from completing the form.Adding another complication, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-education-department-gradually-roll-out-new-fafsa-form-dec-1" target="_blank">department said in August</a>&nbsp;it would use a phased rollout of the 2025-26 form in an attempt to address any errors that might arise before it opens up to everyone — making the application fully available two months later than usual.<h2>Codified deadline</h2>Though the department legally has until Jan. 1 to roll out the form, it typically launches Oct. 1.U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin, an Indiana Republican and member of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, in July&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8932" target="_blank">introduced the bill</a>&nbsp;to standardize that deadline.“I’m especially frustrated considering the Department of Education has had three years to simplify the FAFSA as Congress has dictated,” Houchin said during floor debate Friday.She also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/gaps-fafsa-rollout-are-closing-watchdog-tells-us-house-panel" target="_blank">referenced recent findings</a>&nbsp;from the Government Accountability Office, including that nearly three-quarters of all calls to the call center went unanswered in the first five months of the 2024-25 rollout.“We want this program to work — we want to make sure that children and families that want to send their kids to college have the availability to do that and that the FAFSA is available and workable,” she added.U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, ranking member of the House education panel, echoed his support during the floor debate, saying the measure will “help ensure that even more students have the information they need in a timelier manner to access Pell Grants and other vital student aid.”Scott initially opposed the effort when the committee took it up in July out of concerns that the implementation deadline could force the department to roll out an incomplete form on Oct. 1 of this year.“However, because we’re now considering the bill after Oct. 1, the deadline will apply next year, 2025, and that gives the department ample time to make improvements and fix any lingering issues,” the Virginia Democrat said.U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4632" target="_blank">introduced a companion bill</a>&nbsp;in July.The bill was referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where Cassidy serves as ranking member. After Republicans won a Senate majority in the Nov. 5 elections,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/ranking/newsroom/press/cassidy-to-chair-help-committee-in-119th-congress" target="_blank">Cassidy is in line</a>&nbsp;to chair the panel next year.&nbsp;

U.S. House passes bill to move up annual FAFSA release deadline

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rebecca-rivas/">REBECCA RIVAS</a>&nbsp; <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

Industry experts discussed the impact of hemp products on marijuana market at the MJ Unpacked Conference held in St. Louis

Missourians can walk into a CBD shop right now and buy something that looks just like the canisters of marijuana buds and joints sold in state-regulated dispensaries.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Coffee shops are selling seltzers with 5mg of Delta-9 THC — an amount that would produce a strong buzz — right next to the juices in their coolers.&nbsp;

At farmers markets, bakers are selling intoxicating brownies and other homemade treats in stands right next to farm-fresh vegetables.

Many elected officials and Missourians have publicly puzzled at how this happened in a state where voters created a marijuana program designed to be highly regulated and limited to licensed dispensaries.&nbsp;

While there’s no single explanation, industry experts and cannabis advocates say much of the blame — or credit — goes to a little noticed provision in the 2018 Farm Bill that is effectively acting as a back-door to widespread marijuana legalization.&nbsp;

“Now people are saying, ‘Well, basically all marijuana is hemp,’” said David Vaillencourt, board chair and co-founder of Denver-based S3 Collective. “It’s all legal. The Farm Bill legalized it.”

Vaillencourt spoke during a panel discussion last week at the MJ Unpacked Conference held in St. Louis, where lab experts and regulators chimed in on various panels to talk about the impact of hemp products on marijuana industry and how to regulate it.&nbsp;

Since Congress descheduled hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill, many states have been grappling with having two nearly identical intoxicating cannabis markets that are “bound by very different rules,” Vaillencourt said.

In Missouri, there’s no government agency in charge of making sure products being sold as intoxicating hemp are actually made from hemp. No agency is making sure these products are safe, and there’s no age restriction set by the government to buy them.&nbsp;

Vaillencourt said this market has eclipsed the state-regulated marijuana industry in size in some parts of the country.&nbsp;

“That’s significant because that marketplace didn’t exist several years ago,” he said.&nbsp;

While Delta-8 edibles or seltzers are the most recognizable products in the intoxicating hemp industry, the products are rapidly evolving — making it challenging for regulators to keep up.&nbsp;

“From a health community standpoint, we are very concerned with brand new compounds coming out of these processes that we’ve never seen before,” said Amy Moore, director of the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation during one of the panel discussions at the conference. “We really have no idea what they do, either from experimentation or study.”

For Moore, it’s even more concerning that these compounds are being made “in large amounts, and just see what happens.”

This year, Missouri lawmakers attempted to address the issue, first with failed legislation and later with a stalled-out executive order issued by Gov. Mike Parson trying to ban the products.

For the third year, the upcoming legislative session will be the battlefield between the hemp and marijuana industries. Both will be pushing for their own proposals of sensible regulations.&nbsp;

This “civil war” between the two industries is happening all over the country,&nbsp; said cannabis attorney Rod Kight, who has represented hemp businesses in lawsuits nationwide.

“Which one is going to win out,” he asked, “or what is the end result here?”&nbsp;

On one hand, marijuana companies say it’s unfair that they “played by the rules,” Kight said, and now have to compete with purported hemp products available at gas stations.

On the other side, hemp industry leaders say what they’re doing is legal under federal and state law.&nbsp;

“There’s all these different things that people have in their minds about what it means to have legal hemp,” Kight said. “But the reality of the situation is, for all practical purposes, cannabis is legal in the United States. We just call it hemp.”

Parson’s attempt this summer to&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/08/12/hemp-industry-leaders-call-missouri-governors-order-banning-thc-products-an-overreach/">ban intoxicating hemp</a>&nbsp;remains on hold, perhaps indefinitely.

When the order went into effect on Sept. 1, the governor was hoping to utilize compliance officers at both the state’s Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control and DHSS’ Bureau of Environmental Health Services to implement the ban.

However, those plans quickly came to a halt when the&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/08/22/ban-on-missouri-hemp-thc-products-delayed-in-dust-up-between-governor-secretary-of-state/">Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft rejected the emergency rules</a>&nbsp;that would have given the alcohol division the authority to conduct inspections.&nbsp;

That meant that the state’s&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/06/missouri-regulators-visit-nearly-50-stores-to-inspect-for-intoxicating-hemp-edibles/">food inspectors</a>&nbsp;were left to handle compliance on their own.

But a lawsuit by the Missouri Hemp Trade Association and a bungled “raid” for hemp seltzers at a veterans home on Sept. 11 have squashed any further actions.

The two current pathways for a ban to move forward — through administrative rules and potential new legislation — won’t see any movement until the spring.&nbsp;&nbsp;

They both will be met by the hemp industry’s growing political power, which includes the Missouri Petroleum &amp; Convenience Association and many liquor distributors.

“Frankly, alcohol sales are off,” Chris Lindsey, director of state advocacy for the American Trade Association of Cannabis and Hemp, said during a panel discussion at the St. Louis conference. “That leaves a lot of alcohol distributors looking for new products.”

The opposition also includes a number of small business owners, Kight said.

“In Missouri, you wouldn’t ban these products because it would completely pull the rug out from underneath the multi-billion dollar industry, mostly consisting of small businesses,” Kight said, “and give it to the existing license holders, which tend to be huge corporate entities.”

The argument that banning these products would harm thousands of small businesses in Missouri and further feed what critics call the marijuana “monopoly” was largely successful in blocking proposed legislation the last two years.&nbsp;

The Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control proposed new state rules this month that would ban the sale of hemp-derived products for any licensed liquor retailer. Those rules must be approved by a legislative committee that oversees administrative rules.&nbsp;

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ preliminary budget requests&nbsp;<a href="https://oa.mo.gov/sites/default/files/FY26_DHSS_Appropriation_Book.pdf" target="_blank">$877,000&nbsp;</a>to fund more food inspectors to implement Parson’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sos.mo.gov/library/reference/orders/2024/eo10" target="_blank">executive order</a>.&nbsp;

Those funds would become available on July 1, if lawmakers approve the request as part of the state budget.&nbsp;

The department estimates that 40,000 food establishments and smoke shops and 1,800 food manufacturers could potentially be affected by the governor’s order, the budget request states, “but the majority of these facilities are at low-risk of requiring investigation.”

“It is estimated that all seven inspection staff can conduct 2,900-3,500 site visits annually,” it states.&nbsp;

The department also budgeted $160,000 to hire two full-time attorneys, in the event that business owners challenge enforcement actions.&nbsp;

On the other side, the hemp industry will be proposing its own legislation for regulations on these products, including testing, age restrictions and package labeling.

Diana Eberlein, chair of the Cannabis Beverage Association, notes that THC seltzers and drinks are being sold at the country’s largest liquor retailers, including Total Wine.

And that’s even more of a reason why states like Missouri need to pass regulations to prevent “an absolute disaster from happening.”

“This has really evolved,” Eberlein told attendees at the St. Louis conference, “and it’s exciting, but we also need sensible regulation in place to make sure that the consumer is kept safe. We need to push for it, and alcohol is a power that can get behind us to really put this across the line.”

Moore, the head of Missouri’s marijuana regulatory agency, explained that her division has learned how to create a successful regulatory framework since medical marijuana came on line in 2018.&nbsp;

If hemp products are allowed to be sold outside of dispensaries and their regulatory framework, it would be like “starting over from scratch,” Moore said.&nbsp;

“It’s important to be very concerned about health and safety, which I think we all are,” she said. “I would say it’s a big project, a lot to be done there.”

One of the most common ways to make these products — and is often referred to as a “loophole” — is to convert the nonintoxicating compound CBD into the psychoactive compounds Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC by using a chemical conversion.

Several experts talked about this process creating new compounds that have not been tested.

“You end up creating a lot of other chemicals besides the one that you’re targeting, and it’s very expensive to pull all that back out,” Lindsey said. “That’s what companies like Pfizer and pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of time on.”

Because the products aren’t being regulated, consumers have a “false sense of security,” he said.

And those concerns are shared by hemp leaders as well, Kight said, fueling their&nbsp; push for regulations.&nbsp;

“We don’t know how they interact with humans, and safety is a big concern,” he said.&nbsp;

However, Kight sees a shift in the industry moving away from conversions and “a lot of these strange sorts of cannabinoids.”

“For the most part, you’re beginning to see more and more products that are just sort of Delta-9, CBD and THCA,” he said.&nbsp;

THCA is a naturally abundant cannabinoid that transforms into Delta-9 THC when smoked or heated. Since the 2018 Farm Bill, botanists have figured out how to breed cannabis plants capable of passing the only federal checkpoint required on hemp plants — a visit from U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors 30 days before harvest.&nbsp;

At that point, the levels of Delta-9 THC and THCA are below the federal threshold, he said, but both increase when harvested 30 days later. Kight believes there’s lots of marijuana flower sold in dispensaries that would probably meet this standard of hemp as well. It’s a point that’s being argued in court, he said.

“THCA is the most abundant cannabinoid that cannabis produces,” he said. “If there’s any cannabinoid that humans have truly ingested for thousands of years, it’s THCA. The hemp industry is moving kind of back towards this more natural sort of state of affairs, and I’m very pleased with that.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731864956486.png" alt=" Amy Moore, director of the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation, spoke about intoxicating hemp products during a panel discussions at the MJ Unpacked Conference, held in St. Louis on Nov. 5 (Photo by Rebecca Rivas/The Missouri Independent)" />
 <figcaption> Amy Moore, director of the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation, spoke about intoxicating hemp products during a panel discussions at the MJ Unpacked Conference, held in St. Louis on Nov. 5 (Photo by Rebecca Rivas/The Missouri Independent)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rebecca-rivas/">REBECCA RIVAS</a>&nbsp; <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a><h2>Industry experts discussed the impact of hemp products on marijuana market at the MJ Unpacked Conference held in St. Louis</h2>Missourians can walk into a CBD shop right now and buy something that looks just like the canisters of marijuana buds and joints sold in state-regulated dispensaries.&nbsp;&nbsp;Coffee shops are selling seltzers with 5mg of Delta-9 THC — an amount that would produce a strong buzz — right next to the juices in their coolers.&nbsp;At farmers markets, bakers are selling intoxicating brownies and other homemade treats in stands right next to farm-fresh vegetables.Many elected officials and Missourians have publicly puzzled at how this happened in a state where voters created a marijuana program designed to be highly regulated and limited to licensed dispensaries.&nbsp;While there’s no single explanation, industry experts and cannabis advocates say much of the blame — or credit — goes to a little noticed provision in the 2018 Farm Bill that is effectively acting as a back-door to widespread marijuana legalization.&nbsp;“Now people are saying, ‘Well, basically all marijuana is hemp,’” said David Vaillencourt, board chair and co-founder of Denver-based S3 Collective. “It’s all legal. The Farm Bill legalized it.”Vaillencourt spoke during a panel discussion last week at the MJ Unpacked Conference held in St. Louis, where lab experts and regulators chimed in on various panels to talk about the impact of hemp products on marijuana industry and how to regulate it.&nbsp;Since Congress descheduled hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill, many states have been grappling with having two nearly identical intoxicating cannabis markets that are “bound by very different rules,” Vaillencourt said.In Missouri, there’s no government agency in charge of making sure products being sold as intoxicating hemp are actually made from hemp. No agency is making sure these products are safe, and there’s no age restriction set by the government to buy them.&nbsp;Vaillencourt said this market has eclipsed the state-regulated marijuana industry in size in some parts of the country.&nbsp;“That’s significant because that marketplace didn’t exist several years ago,” he said.&nbsp;While Delta-8 edibles or seltzers are the most recognizable products in the intoxicating hemp industry, the products are rapidly evolving — making it challenging for regulators to keep up.&nbsp;“From a health community standpoint, we are very concerned with brand new compounds coming out of these processes that we’ve never seen before,” said Amy Moore, director of the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation during one of the panel discussions at the conference. “We really have no idea what they do, either from experimentation or study.”For Moore, it’s even more concerning that these compounds are being made “in large amounts, and just see what happens.”This year, Missouri lawmakers attempted to address the issue, first with failed legislation and later with a stalled-out executive order issued by Gov. Mike Parson trying to ban the products.For the third year, the upcoming legislative session will be the battlefield between the hemp and marijuana industries. Both will be pushing for their own proposals of sensible regulations.&nbsp;This “civil war” between the two industries is happening all over the country,&nbsp; said cannabis attorney Rod Kight, who has represented hemp businesses in lawsuits nationwide.“Which one is going to win out,” he asked, “or what is the end result here?”&nbsp;On one hand, marijuana companies say it’s unfair that they “played by the rules,” Kight said, and now have to compete with purported hemp products available at gas stations.On the other side, hemp industry leaders say what they’re doing is legal under federal and state law.&nbsp;“There’s all these different things that people have in their minds about what it means to have legal hemp,” Kight said. “But the reality of the situation is, for all practical purposes, cannabis is legal in the United States. We just call it hemp.”<h2>Competing proposals</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1725657142729.png" alt="Gov. Mike Parson speaks at his Capitol press conference announcing Executive Order 24-10 that bans the sale of intoxicating hemp products in Missouri “until such time approved sources can be regulated by the FDA or State of Missouri through legislative action,” he said (photo courtesy of Missouri Governor’s Office)." />
 <figcaption>Gov. Mike Parson speaks at his Capitol press conference announcing Executive Order 24-10 that bans the sale of intoxicating hemp products in Missouri “until such time approved sources can be regulated by the FDA or State of Missouri through legislative action,” he said (photo courtesy of Missouri Governor’s Office).</figcaption>
 </figure>Parson’s attempt this summer to&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/08/12/hemp-industry-leaders-call-missouri-governors-order-banning-thc-products-an-overreach/">ban intoxicating hemp</a>&nbsp;remains on hold, perhaps indefinitely.When the order went into effect on Sept. 1, the governor was hoping to utilize compliance officers at both the state’s Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control and DHSS’ Bureau of Environmental Health Services to implement the ban.However, those plans quickly came to a halt when the&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/08/22/ban-on-missouri-hemp-thc-products-delayed-in-dust-up-between-governor-secretary-of-state/">Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft rejected the emergency rules</a>&nbsp;that would have given the alcohol division the authority to conduct inspections.&nbsp;That meant that the state’s&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/06/missouri-regulators-visit-nearly-50-stores-to-inspect-for-intoxicating-hemp-edibles/">food inspectors</a>&nbsp;were left to handle compliance on their own.But a lawsuit by the Missouri Hemp Trade Association and a bungled “raid” for hemp seltzers at a veterans home on Sept. 11 have squashed any further actions.The two current pathways for a ban to move forward — through administrative rules and potential new legislation — won’t see any movement until the spring.&nbsp;&nbsp;They both will be met by the hemp industry’s growing political power, which includes the Missouri Petroleum &amp; Convenience Association and many liquor distributors.“Frankly, alcohol sales are off,” Chris Lindsey, director of state advocacy for the American Trade Association of Cannabis and Hemp, said during a panel discussion at the St. Louis conference. “That leaves a lot of alcohol distributors looking for new products.”The opposition also includes a number of small business owners, Kight said.“In Missouri, you wouldn’t ban these products because it would completely pull the rug out from underneath the multi-billion dollar industry, mostly consisting of small businesses,” Kight said, “and give it to the existing license holders, which tend to be huge corporate entities.”The argument that banning these products would harm thousands of small businesses in Missouri and further feed what critics call the marijuana “monopoly” was largely successful in blocking proposed legislation the last two years.&nbsp;However, the state is not backing down.The Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control proposed new state rules this month that would ban the sale of hemp-derived products for any licensed liquor retailer. Those rules must be approved by a legislative committee that oversees administrative rules.&nbsp;The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ preliminary budget requests&nbsp;<a href="https://oa.mo.gov/sites/default/files/FY26_DHSS_Appropriation_Book.pdf" target="_blank">$877,000&nbsp;</a>to fund more food inspectors to implement Parson’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sos.mo.gov/library/reference/orders/2024/eo10" target="_blank">executive order</a>.&nbsp;Those funds would become available on July 1, if lawmakers approve the request as part of the state budget.&nbsp;The department estimates that 40,000 food establishments and smoke shops and 1,800 food manufacturers could potentially be affected by the governor’s order, the budget request states, “but the majority of these facilities are at low-risk of requiring investigation.”“It is estimated that all seven inspection staff can conduct 2,900-3,500 site visits annually,” it states.&nbsp;The department also budgeted $160,000 to hire two full-time attorneys, in the event that business owners challenge enforcement actions.&nbsp;On the other side, the hemp industry will be proposing its own legislation for regulations on these products, including testing, age restrictions and package labeling.Diana Eberlein, chair of the Cannabis Beverage Association, notes that THC seltzers and drinks are being sold at the country’s largest liquor retailers, including Total Wine.And that’s even more of a reason why states like Missouri need to pass regulations to prevent “an absolute disaster from happening.”“This has really evolved,” Eberlein told attendees at the St. Louis conference, “and it’s exciting, but we also need sensible regulation in place to make sure that the consumer is kept safe. We need to push for it, and alcohol is a power that can get behind us to really put this across the line.”<h2>New compounds</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1726164449991.png" alt="A St. Louis liquor store hung a sign announcing Gov. Mike Parson’s executive order to ban intoxicating hemp beverages (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>A St. Louis liquor store hung a sign announcing Gov. Mike Parson’s executive order to ban intoxicating hemp beverages (Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>Moore, the head of Missouri’s marijuana regulatory agency, explained that her division has learned how to create a successful regulatory framework since medical marijuana came on line in 2018.&nbsp;If hemp products are allowed to be sold outside of dispensaries and their regulatory framework, it would be like “starting over from scratch,” Moore said.&nbsp;“It’s important to be very concerned about health and safety, which I think we all are,” she said. “I would say it’s a big project, a lot to be done there.”One of the most common ways to make these products — and is often referred to as a “loophole” — is to convert the nonintoxicating compound CBD into the psychoactive compounds Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC by using a chemical conversion.Several experts talked about this process creating new compounds that have not been tested.“You end up creating a lot of other chemicals besides the one that you’re targeting, and it’s very expensive to pull all that back out,” Lindsey said. “That’s what companies like Pfizer and pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of time on.”Because the products aren’t being regulated, consumers have a “false sense of security,” he said.And those concerns are shared by hemp leaders as well, Kight said, fueling their&nbsp; push for regulations.&nbsp;“We don’t know how they interact with humans, and safety is a big concern,” he said.&nbsp;However, Kight sees a shift in the industry moving away from conversions and “a lot of these strange sorts of cannabinoids.”“For the most part, you’re beginning to see more and more products that are just sort of Delta-9, CBD and THCA,” he said.&nbsp;THCA is a naturally abundant cannabinoid that transforms into Delta-9 THC when smoked or heated. Since the 2018 Farm Bill, botanists have figured out how to breed cannabis plants capable of passing the only federal checkpoint required on hemp plants — a visit from U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors 30 days before harvest.&nbsp;At that point, the levels of Delta-9 THC and THCA are below the federal threshold, he said, but both increase when harvested 30 days later. Kight believes there’s lots of marijuana flower sold in dispensaries that would probably meet this standard of hemp as well. It’s a point that’s being argued in court, he said.“THCA is the most abundant cannabinoid that cannabis produces,” he said. “If there’s any cannabinoid that humans have truly ingested for thousands of years, it’s THCA. The hemp industry is moving kind of back towards this more natural sort of state of affairs, and I’m very pleased with that.”

Intoxicating hemp booming in Missouri as regulators, marijuana industry try to shut it down

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect for allegedly stealing the same vehicle twice.

On November 9, a minivan was missing from the 4700 block of SW Topeka Blvd., according to Deputy Abigail Christian. The minivan was found and returned to the owner the following Monday, but without the key.

The minivan was stolen once again on November 14 from Topeka area home. It was located later in the day near SW 29th and Gage, where a brief pursuit was started. That was called off for safety reasons, but the minivan was found once again shortly after near SW 15th and Mulvane.

Brandon Norris, 27, was arrested after a K-9 officer tracked him from the vehicle. Norris was booked into the Shawnee County jail on requested charges of theft of a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property, fleeing law enforcement, reckless driving, driving without a license, and drug possession.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613410475366.png" alt="Norris photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Norris photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect for allegedly stealing the same vehicle twice.On November 9, a minivan was missing from the 4700 block of SW Topeka Blvd., according to Deputy Abigail Christian. The minivan was found and returned to the owner the following Monday, but without the key.The minivan was stolen once again on November 14 from Topeka area home. It was located later in the day near SW 29th and Gage, where a brief pursuit was started. That was called off for safety reasons, but the minivan was found once again shortly after near SW 15th and Mulvane.Brandon Norris, 27, was arrested after a K-9 officer tracked him from the vehicle. Norris was booked into the Shawnee County jail on requested charges of theft of a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property, fleeing law enforcement, reckless driving, driving without a license, and drug possession.

Sheriff: Kansas man stole minivan twice in less than a week 

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">ARIANA FIGUEROA</a> State's Newsroom

WASHINGTON — Republicans in the Nov. 5 election took over the White House, the U.S. Senate and as of late Wednesday, the House, after calls were made in enough races to project a majority.

They are expressing high hopes for unified control of government. But before they’ll be able to celebrate enacting sweeping changes to the country’s tax code or overhauling the health insurance marketplace, they’ll need to broker agreement between centrist lawmakers and far-right members in Congress.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1731670443807.png" alt="-South Dakota Sen. John Thune speaks to reporters after being elected Republican leader during a closed-door, secret ballot election held Nov. 13, 2024, inside the old Senate chamber in the U.S. Capitol building.&nbsp;At right is Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican elected as the Republican Policy Committee chair. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom" />
 <figcaption>-South Dakota Sen. John Thune speaks to reporters after being elected Republican leader during a closed-door, secret ballot election held Nov. 13, 2024, inside the old Senate chamber in the U.S. Capitol building.&nbsp;At right is Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican elected as the Republican Policy Committee chair. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/ariana-figueroa/">ARIANA FIGUEROA</a> State's Newsroom WASHINGTON — Republicans in the Nov. 5 election took over the White House, the U.S. Senate and as of late Wednesday, the House, after calls were made in enough races to project a majority.They are expressing high hopes for unified control of government. But before they’ll be able to celebrate enacting sweeping changes to the country’s tax code or overhauling the health insurance marketplace, they’ll need to broker agreement between centrist lawmakers and far-right members in Congress.More often than not, those two factions of the GOP hold significantly different ideas about how to draft legislation and strong opinions about whether to amend it on the floor.Keeping everyone on the same page will be crucial for Republican leaders once the new Congress begins Jan. 3, especially since they have just three votes to spare in the Senate and a razor-thin majority in the House.States Newsroom looked at what’s ahead for Republicans as they begin sorting through where to make changes to U.S. law in seven key policy areas:<h2>TAXES</h2>Nearly every Republican politician campaigned on addressing the country’s tax structure, making it one of the first issues the party is expected to take up when the next session of Congress begins.The GOP will likely use the complicated budget reconciliation process to address the tax code, the same way lawmakers did in 2017 when they passed their signature tax law during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office.That reconciliation process would allow Republicans to avoid the Senate’s 60-vote legislative filibuster that would otherwise require them to get Democratic support. But the process has strict rules and requires a marathon amendment voting session in the Senate that’s often called a vote-a-rama.Some provisions in Republicans’ original tax law have already expired or will do so in the coming months, giving the GOP incentives to jump through the many hoops that come with the reconciliation process.Extending the expiring provisions will bring along a hefty price tag, however.The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget wrote in an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.crfb.org/press-releases/tax-cuts-need-offsets-not-baseline-games" target="_blank">analysis</a>&nbsp;released in late September that extending the individual and estate tax elements in the law would increase the deficit by $3.9 trillion through 2035. Republicans opting to extend or bring back tax code changes for business would likely increase the deficit to $4.8 trillion.Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, expressed concerns at the time about lawmakers ignoring or diminishing the deficit impact.&nbsp;“There will undoubtedly be efforts to pretend that extending the tax cuts is free – obviously this is not the case,” she said. “Extending policies that are scheduled to expire — and were scored as expiring — would clearly add to the national debt.”MacGuineas added that lawmakers “should consider carefully which parts of the TCJA are working, which parts aren’t, and if they want to extend some parts, how to responsibly extend them without increasing the debt beyond current law.”<h2>IMMIGRATION</h2>Republicans are expected to hold votes on legislation addressing border security and immigration after much of their campaign for Congress focused on those two areas.Whether they’ll be able to do that through the reconciliation process with only GOP support or through the traditional legislative process, which requires bipartisanship in the Senate, will depend on how exactly they write the bill and what budget impacts the various provisions will have.Immigration and border security legislation would fail to comply with a reconciliation rule in the Senate, also known as the&nbsp;<a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL30862" target="_blank">Byrd Rule</a>, if it produces a change in federal revenues or spending that is deemed “merely incidental” by the Senate parliamentarian.While the requirement is vague, it could apply to several items that don’t have big price tags when considered as part of the multi-trillion-dollar federal budget.For example, Democrats’ efforts to raise the federal minimum wage as part of the reconciliation process in 2021&nbsp;<a href="https://rollcall.com/2021/02/25/senate-parliamentarian-nixes-minimum-wage-boost-in-aid-package/" target="_blank">were deemed “merely incidental”</a>&nbsp;by the Senate parliamentarian and removed from the bill.Trump has already laid out his wish list for an immigration-related bill he wants Congress to send to his desk.Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/TrumpDailyPosts/status/1855365133121253420" target="_blank">reposted campaign videos</a>&nbsp;on social media in early September requesting Congress pass legislation to prevent future presidents from using executive authority to grant humanitarian parole — something the Biden administration has used to allow more than 1 million people to obtain work permits and live in the United States temporarily.&nbsp;Trump has called the use of parole authority “abuse,” but it’s been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/use-parole-under-immigration-law" target="_blank">used by presidents since 1956</a>, during the Eisenhower administration.Trump, who campaigned on mass deportations of immigrants without proper legal status, is also expected to ask Congress to foot the bill for his promise to deport more than 13 million people.Getting any immigration-related policy to the president-elect’s desk will be daunting since it’s been almost four decades since Congress overhauled U.S. immigration law.“The last big immigration bill was passed in 1986 when Ronald Reagan was president and both houses of Congress were held by Democrats,” according to an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/can-immigration-reform-happen-a-look-back/" target="_blank">analysis</a>&nbsp;from the nonpartisan Brookings Institution. “A smaller bill was passed in 1990 when George H.W. Bush was president and both houses of Congress were still controlled by Democrats.”Earlier this year, a bipartisan border security and immigration bill was brokered by Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford and Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.The trio of senators spent months negotiating the particulars of the deal only to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-senate-kills-immigration-overhaul-hits-stalemate-israel-ukraine-aid" target="_blank">have it scuttled</a>&nbsp;after Trump told GOP members he didn’t want the legislation to pass.That legislation could be used as a starting point if Republicans are unable to move an immigration bill through the reconciliation process and want to get a bill past the Senate’s 60-vote legislative filibuster.<h2>TARIFFS</h2>Tariffs could become one point of contention between Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration.The president-elect has vowed to stack tariffs of at least 10% on nearly all goods entering the country, raising alarm bells with economists and free-trade Republicans about the impact that would have on consumer prices.Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-vows-levy-horrible-tariffs-imports-rejecting-fears-inflation-spike" target="_blank">said in mid-October at the Economic Club of Chicago</a>&nbsp;that he hoped to implement tariffs on foreign-made products as high as 100% or 200%.“The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States, and build a factory in the United States so it doesn’t have to pay the tariff,” Trump said, rejecting the premise that high tariffs could harm Americans.Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told States Newsroom&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/foreign-policy-where-do-harris-and-trump-stand" target="_blank">in an October interview</a>&nbsp;that imposing tariffs could risk “starting a trade war with the entire world.”Lovely’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.piie.com/research/piie-charts/2024/trumps-bigger-tariff-proposals-would-cost-typical-american-household-over" target="_blank">research</a>&nbsp;with economist Kimberly Clausing, also of PIIE, found that Trump’s threats to slap tariffs as high as 20% on all foreign products, combined with his threats of 60% tariffs on all Chinese goods, could cost the typical American household over $2,600 annually.<h2>HEALTH CARE</h2>House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said repeatedly during the final weeks of the campaign that he wants to overhaul the 2010 health care law that most people refer to as the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.He hasn’t shared details about what aspects of that law he wants to end or change, but said during a late October interview on Fox Business that he wants to address health outcomes.“I said the ACA, unfortunately, is deeply ingrained in our health care system now,” Johnson said. “Do we need further improvements? Absolutely. We need to expand quality of care, access to care and obviously lower the cost of health care.”Republicans used the budget reconciliation process to try to repeal and replace the ACA in 2017, but were unsuccessful,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-donald-trump-us-news-ap-top-news-bills-0bd309f182de44d9bc320f334be94875" target="_blank">largely due to the late Arizona Sen. John McCain</a>&nbsp;rejecting the bill.Even with the budget reconciliation process to get Republicans around the Senate’s 60-vote legislative filibuster, it will be extremely difficult for leaders to get the party unified on any health care bill of that magnitude.Republicans using the budget reconciliation process for tax policy and health care would take up two of the three opportunities they’ll have to adopt budget resolutions with reconciliation instructions during the 119th Congress.GOP leaders could try for a round three, though once all is said and done with the first two reconciliation bills, Republicans might need to shift their attention toward the 2026 midterm campaigns.<h2>VOTING</h2>Republican lawmakers have argued legislation is needed to bar noncitizens from voting in federal elections, even though it is already illegal and rarely happens. The party is expected to try again next Congress, once it holds a majority in both chambers of Congress.&nbsp;The GOP House&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-house-passes-bill-requiring-proof-citizenship-vote-federal-races" target="_blank">passed a bill this summer</a>&nbsp;that would have required proof of citizenship to register to vote, but the Democratic-controlled Senate never acted on it.Trump wrote on social media that he would demand that voter ID laws and proof of citizenship be required for voting, something that Congress would have to pass, although it’s unclear if such legislation could overcome the 60-vote threshold in the Senate.The issue is important to Trump, as Johnson traveled to the president-elect’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-supports-us-house-speaker-johnson-elections-agenda-joint-appearance" target="_blank">to unveil the House’s intention</a>&nbsp;to pursue the issue.<h2>SPENDING</h2>Republicans campaigned this year on cutting government spending, but have rarely done so when they held the majority in both chambers of Congress.The challenge lies in how government spending is approved and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59727" target="_blank">how much the various departments and agencies</a>&nbsp;require to function.During fiscal 2023, the federal government spent $6.1 trillion, with $3.4 trillion going to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59728" target="_blank">mandatory programs</a>, like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Those programs run on autopilot, so lawmakers don’t need to negotiate the particulars every year the way they do other programs.An additional $1.7 trillion was spent on so-called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59729" target="_blank">discretionary programs</a>, which are funded through Congress’ annual appropriations process. That funding went to programs categorized as either nondefense, which received $917 billion, or defense, which got $805 billion.The nondefense funding goes to several departments, including Agriculture, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, State and Transportation. Smaller agencies, like NASA and the National Science Foundation, are also funded through nondefense accounts.Republicans have proposed cuts in the past, but members of the party who understand the federal ledger often explain that if members really want to address the government spending more than it takes in, they’ll have to address Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.The math, otherwise, won’t work.Republicans could make tweaks when they write their reconciliation bills, though they’ll need those to comply with the Byrd Rule and not have a “merely incidental” impact on the federal ledger.&nbsp;<h2>EDUCATION</h2>Having secured unified GOP control of government,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-won-presidency-what-does-mean-education" target="_blank">Trump’s sweeping vision</a>&nbsp;to “save American education” could set the stage for significant changes in U.S. education policy.The president-elect has vowed to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and said he wants to move education “back to the states.” States and local governments bear much of the responsibility for funding K-12 schools, but the Department of Education handles Pell Grants for college students who demonstrate financial need and enforces civil rights cases, among other things.Congress going along with plans to eliminate the department could have profound impacts on the billions of dollars in funding the agency provides for low-income K-12 schools, special education and federal student aid.Trump also vowed to roll back updated Title IX regulations on his first day back in office.President Joe Biden unveiled the final rule for Title IX in April, which strengthens federal protections for LGBTQ+ students and&nbsp;“protects against discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics,” according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-releases-final-title-ix-regulations-providing" target="_blank">Education Department</a>.GOP members on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce have criticized the new Title IX rules and are likely to fall in step with Trump’s wishes to roll back the regulations.Trump has also criticized the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness efforts, dubbing them “not even legal.” He could discontinue the Biden administration’s new student loan repayment plan known as Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE. The plan is currently on pause due to legal challenges from Republican-led states.Last year, Senate Republicans&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/attempt-kill-biden-student-debt-relief-plan-tied-income-fails-us-senate" target="_blank">tried to strike down the rule.</a>Like Trump, Republicans have focused on “parental rights” in education. House Republicans&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/gop-bill-establishing-federal-parental-bill-rights-passed-us-house" target="_blank">passed their own bill</a>&nbsp;on the issue last year.Republicans are likely to continue scrutinizing higher education institutions from diversity initiatives to college students protesting the war in Gaza.A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-house-passes-anti-woke-bill-aimed-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-higher-ed%C2%A0" target="_blank">GOP measure</a>&nbsp;that would bar accrediting organizations from requiring colleges and universities to adopt diversity, equity and inclusion policies as a condition of accreditation passed the House in September.Shauneen Miranda and Ashley Murray contributed to this report.&nbsp;&nbsp;