Peter Merideth

The waivers could lead to the forgiveness of more than $100 million in federal money that the state has tried to recoup from 47,000 Missourians.

The legislature failed to pass a bill that aimed to forgive nearly $150 million in mostly federal benefits given to thousands of Missourians mistakenly during the height of the pandemic.

Missouri's constitution prohibits the state from granting more than five dispensary licenses to any single entity or individual. But there are several companies that seem to hold more than five licenses, but the state is withholding any ownership information.

Missouri's budget does not include money to extend Medicaid to 275,000 low-income people, despite a constitutional amendment approved by voters.

To state Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, the GOP arguments in recent days against funding the expansion of Medicaid haven’t made much sense. Merideth, the ranking minority member of the House Budget Committee, joined Friday's "St. Louis on the Air" to share his sense of recent developments and where this budget battle may be headed next.

The move by the Missouri House budget committee puts the fate of voter-approved expansion in jeopardy.

The House sent a measure to the Senate that would require a two-thirds vote of the people to pass a constitutional amendment.

Defeat could leave program unfunded, while passage could set up new legal challenge.

The Missouri Supreme Court struck down a portion of a photo ID law in January 2020, but the bill's sponsor said he crafted this legislation in direct response to that ruling.

The measure passed on party lines, with 103 Republicans voting in favor and 43 Democrats opposing the idea.