Marshall Griffin

Credit Maria Frank
Statehouse Reporter

St. Louis Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a native of Mississippi and proud alumnus of Ole Miss (welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!).  He has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, their cat, Honey, and their newly-adopted puppy, Liberty Belle.

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Mo. House redistricting
8:29 pm
Mon February 27, 2012

Mo. Supreme Court hears State House redistricting map lawsuit

Credit (Marshall Griffin/St. Louis Public Radio)
Mo. Supreme Court

The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a lawsuit challenging the new State House redistricting map.

The map’s opponents raised similar objections as those who’ve challenged the congressional and State Senate district maps drawn up last year:  Like the Senate map, plaintiffs claimed, in written statements, that the six-judge panel that drew up the House map did so behind closed doors and thus violated the state’s Sunshine law.  Robert Hess, one of the attorneys defending the map, said the panel was not subject to the Sunshine law.

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Mo. Senate redistricting
6:59 pm
Thu February 23, 2012

Filing period bill fails after passing Mo. House

Credit (Marshall Griffin/St. Louis Public Radio)
(l-r) Mo. Senators Mike Parson (R, Bolivar) and Jim Lembke (R, Lemay) talk on the Senate floor during a recess from debate.

Legislation that would have moved back Missouri’s filing period for the August 7th primaries has been withdrawn from consideration by the State Senate.

Instead of debating the bill itself, some St. Louis-area Senators began criticizing the citizens’ commission that drew up the latest State Senate district map Jim Lembke (R, Lemay) and Jane Cunningham (R, Chesterfield) both had harsh words for the proposed map, which would move Cunningham’s 7th District to the Kansas City area.

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ENGLISH-ONLY DRIVER's Tests
1:53 pm
Thu February 23, 2012

Mo. House passes English driver's license mandate

The Missouri House has passed legislation requiring driver’s license exams to be given in English only.

The final debate boiled down to safety versus respect for immigrants.  State Representative Tishaura Jones (D, St. Louis) says she represents constituents from several different nationalities, and added that every member of the House descended from immigrants.

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Mo. Senate redistricting
3:50 am
Thu February 23, 2012

Commission to redraw Mo. Senate map reaches tentative agreement

Credit (Mo. Office of Administration)
A copy of the State Senate map rejected last month by the Missouri Supreme Court. A citizens' commission appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon has reached a tentative agreement on a new map, a link to which is provided in the article below.

A tentative agreement has been reached on a new redistricting map for the Missouri Senate.

A bipartisan commission appointed by Governor Jay Nixon (D) to draw a new map negotiated for more than 13 hours Wednesday, and reached a consensus after 12:00 this morning.  The "Tentative Plan" map can be viewed here.  Marc Ellinger is the top Republican on the 10-person commission.

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MOSIRA
7:38 pm
Tue February 21, 2012

Mo. lawmakers react to MOSIRA law being struck down

Credit (Marshall Griffin/St. Louis Public Radio)
Mo. Capitol

Many Missouri lawmakers are expressing disappointment over Tuesday's ruling that struck down the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act, more commonly known as "MOSIRA."

The measure would have used revenues generated by a group of science and high-tech companies to create a pool to lure more such companies to Missouri and to keep the ones already here from leaving.  State Senator Luann Ridgeway (R, Smithville) is not happy with the ruling.

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