Politics

Missouri gun laws didn’t change since St. Louis school shooting

Published

2 years ago

October 20, 2023

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St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Megan Green, then an alderwoman, was at her home in Tower Grove South on the morning of Oct. 24, 2022, when her phone started going crazy with news of a school shooting nearby.“From constituents to people at City Hall … hitting me up to say, ‘Hey, this is happening,’” she recalled.A 19-year-old had forced his way into the campus at Arsenal and Kingshighway shared by two magnet high schools — Central Visual and Performing Arts and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience — and opened fire with a rifle.The shooting left two people dead, 15-year-old Alexzandria Bell, a CVPA sophomore, and Jean Kuczka, the school’s health and physical education teacher and the coach of Collegiate’s cross-country team. Seven others were injured, and hundreds of students, teachers and other staff at the two schools were traumatized.Green and other local elected officials, including St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, saw the shooting as tragic but inevitable given the state of gun restrictions in Missouri and the U.S. as a whole.“Our children shouldn’t have to experience this,” Jones said at a briefing early on the day of the shooting. “They shouldn’t have to go through active shooter drills in case something happens. And unfortunately, that happened today.”A series of coincidences helped limit the carnage. The schools are less than a mile from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s South Patrol headquarters. Other officers were in the area attending a funeral. The SWAT team was already together for a training exercise, allowing it to respond quickly. One of the St. Louis Public Schools security officers on duty that day was armed.

Brian Munoz

St. Louis Public RadioPictures of physical education teacher Jean Kuczka and student Alexzandria Bell are displayed during a vigil on Oct. 26, 2022, outside Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in south St. Louis.

Officers located and killed the shooter, a former CVPA student, less than 10 minutes after arriving on the scene. But as the investigation progressed, it became clear that the entire tragedy could have been prevented.The shooter’s family knew he had mental health issues, said Michael Sack, then the interim police chief.They regularly monitored his mail and checked his room. He had been committed in the past for inpatient treatment.“Whenever they noticed him stepping out of line or going out of turn they always worked to get him back on his medication, back on therapy, whatever he needed,” he said.And when family members became aware he had a gun — the same one later used in the shooting — they called police.“The mother wanted it out of the house,” Sack said. But, Missouri doesn’t have a way for police to seize firearms from people who could be a threat to themselves or others — what’s known as a red flag law. The most they could do was transfer the gun to an adult who could legally have it.“I’ve got to give credit to the family. They made every effort that they felt that they reasonably could,” Sack said. “And I think that’s why the mother is so heartbroken for the families that paid for his episode.”

Sarah Kellogg

St. Louis Public RadioCentral Visual and Performing Arts High School student Bryanna Love speaks in February 2023 during a visit CVPA students made to the Missouri Capitol. The students came to Jefferson City to speak to lawmakers about the shooting at their school, including what actions they wanted to see happen.

Students demand actionStudents and teachers from CVPA traveled to Jefferson City in February. Their goal was to talk to lawmakers not only about how the shooting changed their lives, but what they wanted them to do about it.“I’m angry,” said student April Shepard. “I might not visibly show it. But every time I see somebody walk past me, a legislator, somebody who can change it but refuses to, I get upset. My friend shouldn’t have to jump out of a window so they can live to see another day.”For many students, including Jaiyana Stallworth, passing a red flag law was something they wanted to see happen.“If there’s any kind of history there, like any sort of just alarm going off, that maybe you can’t handle the responsibility, you don’t get the responsibility,” Stallworth said. “Kind of like, if you can’t have a puppy, you shouldn’t have a puppy, except it’s a gun.”State Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, whose district includes the schools, didn’t take much time to act. The first bill he filed for the 2023 session would have established a red flag law.“I found the same one that the Republican legislature in Florida did. So it’s pretty conservative, gives a lot of due process to make sure a person, that if the claims aren’t justified, they can get their guns back,” Merideth said.

Tim Bommel

Missouri House CommunicationsRep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, speaks on the Missouri House floor. Merideth, whose district includes Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience, filed a series of gun control bills this past session.

Merideth said he believed it was his responsibility to file not only that bill but other legislation centered on gun control.“As their representative, it’s my job to be their voice, as much as I’m capable of being. And so I’m doing my best to do that. But I wish it were more effective,” Merideth said.In addition to the red flag law, Merideth filed other gun control legislation, including establishing universal background checks and raising the age to possess a firearm to 21.However, in the Republican-led House of Representatives, Merideth’s bills didn’t even get a hearing. No bill establishing any gun control in the state moved forward this past session in either chamber.Merideth’s Democratic colleague, Sen. Karla May, D-St. Louis, also filed a red flag law. Her bill also didn’t get a hearing.“My colleagues, we were trying to at least get the bill heard, in order for students to be heard. Because anytime you have trauma, the best medicine for that trauma is to be heard,” May said. “And they didn’t even have the decency to allow a bill to have a hearing.”

Brian Munoz

St. Louis Public RadioMissouri Sen. Karla May, D-St. Louis, on Oct. 12 at St. Louis Public Radio in Grand Center.

As to what the legislature has done as a response to the shooting, lawmakers approved Gov. Mike Parson’s budget item of $50 million for school safety grants.“As friends and families mourn, community grieves and a school tries to continue on without a valued and beloved teacher and student, we must commit ourselves to ensuring our schools are safe,” Parson said in January during his State of the State address.But as far as what else the state can do in response to the shooting, Parson was not supportive of a red flag law.“I think the red flag law, it’s more of a political statement and that’s what drives everybody apart, when you start going down those roads,” Parson said in January.State Rep. Jon Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, the House majority floor leader, says he isn’t sure any specific law would have prevented the shooting. He also believes that the potential negatives of a red flag law outweigh the positives. He’s also not sure how effective they would be.“There’s no doubt that it might stop someone from doing something at a particular time. But to say that it would take away gun violence or really make a huge difference. I think there’s really not that much evidence to support that,” Patterson said.Patterson says he doesn’t see any bill that limits access to firearms having a chance of passing. He believes the Republican-led legislature should address the causes of crime, such as poverty.“We’re constantly trying to do things that make companies want to move to St. Louis, moving to Kansas City to employ people with strong family supporting jobs. I think those are the kinds of things that would do more to reduce gun violence to any sort of House bill,” Patterson said.

Tristen Rouse

St. Louis Public RadioRep. Jon Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, is photographed on Tuesday outside St. Louis Public Radio.

At the end of this past session, House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, bristled at the idea that the legislature didn’t take action following the shooting.“We outlined that we wanted to attack crime, that we want to hold the perpetrators of crime accountable. This is what we’re doing,” Plocher said. “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. There’s a mental health crisis, we’ve addressed some of that and our legislation this year,”Merideth is tired of Republicans shifting the conversation on gun violence.“You point to the problem. The problem is obviously gun violence. OK, so let’s address the guns,” Merideth said. “Nope, we can’t do guns. It’s a mental health issue. OK, fine. We can agree, let’s address mental health. And they do nothing. The fact is, they’re just making excuses.”Patterson pointed to a new mental health facility in Kansas City that lawmakers approved funding for this past session.“That’s the kind of investment that we’re willing to make to address mental health. And I think addressing mental health like that will make it so that maybe one more person is not out on the street with a weapon that’s going to do something bad,” Patterson said.

Brent Jones

St. Louis Public RadioCentral Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience on Tuesday.

Local government tries to fill the gapThe St. Louis school district applied for a share of the safety funding, which was targeted at “physical security upgrades and associated technologies, bleeding control kits, and automated external defibrillators.” The district received $300,000 to put security film on some first-floor windows.The district also boosted its security budget by $2.5 million for video surveillance and intrusion alarms and expanded its various training on crisis prevention and active shooters.With broader policy action at the state level unlikely, especially with the 2024 election nearing, local officials are trying to step in using their limited power.“Jefferson City politicians like to think that they have the answer to all of Missouri’s problems,” Patterson said. “I don’t think that’s always the case. I think there’s a lot of things that have to be done at the local level.”But under Missouri law, the state has total authority over gun regulations, except in some narrow areas. Green and her colleagues at the Board of Aldermen are considering a number of bills they believe fit into those loopholes, like a ban on machine guns and certain types of ammunition, or on the sale or transfer of guns to someone under age 18. The bills have the support of Jones.“He had a military-grade weapon,” Jones said of the shooter. “And if that were prohibited by local law, then we can hopefully prohibit other military grade weapons on our streets.”

Tristen Rouse

St. Louis Public RadioBella Mashburn, a student at Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience and member of Students Demand Action, listens as Mayor Tishaura Jones answer questions from members of the press in August after a community session on gun violence at Friendly Temple Church in the Wells Goodfellow neighborhood of St. Louis.

But the maximum punishment for a violation of the ordinances will be a $500 fine and 90 days in jail, or a fine and community service for juveniles. And most of the other bills are meant to keep guns out of the hands of minors — which wouldn’t have applied to the shooter.Aldermen have also introduced a series of regulations that would take effect if local governments regain the right to pass their own gun laws. But a local red flag law cannot be among them, Green said.“One of the complications is that our municipal court system would not be authorized to enforce such a law or enforce penalties around such a law,” she said.On the actions St. Louis has taken so far, May said any form of gun control is a good thing but worries about a backlash in Jefferson City.“I applaud them for what they were able to get done. But my concern is the Missouri legislature’s reaction to what they were able to get done. So that’s something that we’re going to have to fight and deal with on that level,” May said.In Missouri, activists often take issues that are popular with voters but not lawmakers to the ballot via initiative petitions. Merideth said that could be feasible for a red flag law.“I think that they’re popular in our state. And I think if we could gather the signatures, they all have a path to pass on a political level right now,” Merideth said.

Brian Munoz

St. Louis Public RadioMembers of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen get settled in April 2023 during the first day of session at City Hall.

The city has more control over its finances, and Green wants to make a bigger investment in mental health care.“We’ve heard from our young people over and over and over again that they see their friends hurting, and they need more support,” she said.Immediately after the shooting, the city’s health department established a series of goals, including plans for bi-weekly meetings to improve school-based behavioral health interventions.Jones did not have an update on those specific policy goals but praised the city’s Behavioral Health Bureau, which just marked a year in existence.“They have been making a difference,” she said. “Call volumes have gone up from approximately 10 to 25 per week.”Julie Gray, the bureau’s chief, said in a statement marking the milestone that it would be “partnering with St. Louis Public Schools to provide education around mental health and substance abuse.”The district promised to make counselors available for as long as students and staff at CVPA and CSMB needed them. Its foundation helped coordinate the donations and partnerships to make that happen.

Tristen Rouse

St. Louis Public RadioByron Clemens, spokesperson for the American Federation of Teachers Local 420, photographed on Oct. 13, at the union headquarters in St. Louis.

But Byron Clemens, a spokesman for American Federation of Teachers Local 420 that represents teachers and staff in the district, wants that support available before a similar tragedy happens.“We’ve long advocated for having a counselor in every school, a social worker in every school, and a nurse in every school,” he said.There’s no way to know whether that could have prevented the tragedy that occurred, Clemens said, but making additional resources available to students and families may help.The shooting at the high schools happened on Clemens’ birthday, which means a day of celebration will always be colored by sadness going forward. But despite the darkness, he said, some good emerged.“We were focused like a laser for a short period of time on the surrounding issues,” he said. “But we need to continue to do it and keep the focus on trying to protect children and families from gun violence.”

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Poll: Support for Missouri abortion rights amendment growing

Published

1 year ago

August 29, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A proposed constitutional amendment legalizing abortion in Missouri received support from more than half of respondents in a new poll from St. Louis University and YouGov.That’s a boost from a poll earlier this year, which could mean what’s known as Amendment 3 is in a solid position to pass in November.SLU/YouGov’s poll of 900 likely Missouri voters from Aug. 8-16 found that 52% of respondents would vote for Amendment 3, which would place constitutional protections for abortion up to fetal viability. Thirty-four percent would vote against the measure, while 14% aren’t sure.By comparison, the SLU/YouGov poll from February found that 44% of voters would back the abortion legalization amendment.St. Louis University political science professor Steven Rogers said 32% of Republicans and 53% of independents would vote for the amendment. That’s in addition to nearly 80% of Democratic respondents who would approve the measure. In the previous poll, 24% of Republicans supported the amendment.Rogers noted that neither Amendment 3 nor a separate ballot item raising the state’s minimum wage is helping Democratic candidates. GOP contenders for U.S. Senate, governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer and secretary of state all hold comfortable leads.“We are seeing this kind of crossover voting, a little bit, where there are voters who are basically saying, ‘I am going to the polls and I’m going to support a Republican candidate, but I’m also going to go to the polls and then I’m also going to try to expand abortion access and then raise the minimum wage,’” Rogers said.Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Kehoe has a 51%-41% lead over Democrat Crystal Quade. And U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley is leading Democrat Lucas Kunce by 53% to 42%. Some GOP candidates for attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer have even larger leads over their Democratic rivals.

Brian Munoz

St. Louis Public RadioHundreds of demonstrators pack into a parking lot at Planned Parenthood of St. Louis and Southwest Missouri on June 24, 2022, during a demonstration following the Supreme Court’s reversal of a case that guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion.

One of the biggest challenges for foes of Amendment 3 could be financial.Typically, Missouri ballot initiatives with well-funded and well-organized campaigns have a better chance of passing — especially if the opposition is underfunded and disorganized. Since the end of July, the campaign committee formed to pass Amendment 3 received more than $3 million in donations of $5,000 or more.That money could be used for television advertisements to improve the proposal’s standing further, Rogers said, as well as point out that Missouri’s current abortion ban doesn’t allow the procedure in the case of rape or incest.“Meanwhile, the anti side won’t have those resources to kind of try to make that counter argument as strongly, and they don’t have public opinion as strongly on their side,” Rogers said.There is precedent of a well-funded initiative almost failing due to opposition from socially conservative voters.In 2006, a measure providing constitutional protections for embryonic stem cell research nearly failed — even though a campaign committee aimed at passing it had a commanding financial advantage.Former state Sen. Bob Onder was part of the opposition campaign to that measure. He said earlier this month it is possible to create a similar dynamic in 2024 against Amendment 3, if social conservatives who oppose abortion rights can band together.“This is not about reproductive rights or care for miscarriages or IVF or anything else,” said Onder, the GOP nominee for Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District seat. “Missourians will learn that out-of-state special interests and dark money from out of state is lying to them and they will reject this amendment.”Quade said earlier this month that Missourians of all political ideologies are ready to roll back the state’s abortion ban.“Regardless of political party, we hear from folks who are tired of politicians being in their doctor’s offices,” Quade said. “They want politicians to mind their own business. So this is going to excite folks all across the political spectrum.”

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Democrat Mark Osmack makes his case for Missouri treasurer

Published

1 year ago

August 29, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Mark Osmack has been out of the electoral fray for awhile, but he never completely abandoned his passion for Missouri politics.Osmack, a Valley Park native and U.S. Army veteran, previously ran for Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District seat and for state Senate. Now he’s the Democratic nominee for state treasurer after receiving a phone call from Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Russ Carnahan asking him to run.“There’s a lot of decision making and processing and evaluation that goes into it, which is something I am very passionate and interested in,” Osmack said this week on an episode of Politically Speaking.Osmack is squaring off against state Treasurer Vivek Malek, who was able to easily win a crowded GOP primary against several veteran lawmakers including House Budget Chairman Cody Smith and state Sen. Andrew Koenig.While Malek was able to attract big donations to his political action committee and pour his own money into the campaign, Osmack isn’t worried that he won’t be able to compete in November. Since Malek was appointed to his post, Osmack contends he hasn’t proven that he’s a formidable opponent in a general election.“His actions and his decision making so far in his roughly two year tenure in that office have been questionable,” Osmack said.Among other things, Osmack was critical of Malek for placing unclaimed property notices on video gaming machines which are usually found in gas stations or convenience stores. The legality of the machines has been questioned for some time.As Malek explained on his own episode of Politically Speaking, he wanted to make sure the unclaimed property program was as widely advertised as possible. But he acknowledged it was a mistake to put the decals close to the machines and ultimately decided to remove them.Osmack said: “This doesn’t even pass the common sense sniff test of, ‘Hey, should I put state stickers claiming you might have a billion dollars on a gambling machine that is not registered with the state of Missouri?’ If we’re gonna give kudos for him acknowledging the wrong thing, it never should have been done in the first place.”Osmack’s platform includes supporting programs providing school meals using Missouri agriculture products and making child care more accessible for the working class.He said the fact that Missouri has such a large surplus shows that it’s possible to create programs to make child care within reach for parents.“It is quite audacious for [Republicans] to brag about $8 billion, with a B, dollars in state surplus, while we offer next to no social services to include pre-K, daycare, or child care,” Osmack said.Here’s are some other topics Osmack discussed on the show:How he would handle managing the state’s pension systems and approving low-income housing tax credits. The state treasurer’s office is on boards overseeing both of those programs.Malek’s decision to cut off investments from Chinese companies. Osmack said that Missouri needs to be cautious about abandoning China as a business partner, especially since they’re a major consumer of the state’s agriculture products. “There’s a way to make this work where we are not supporting communist nations to the detriment of the United States or our allies, while also maintaining strong economic ties that benefit Missouri farmers,” he said.What it was like to witness the skirmish at the Missouri State Fair between U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce.Whether Kunce can get the support of influential groups like the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which often channels money and staff to states with competitive Senate elections.

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As Illinois receives praise for its cannabis equity efforts, stakeholders work on system’s flaws

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1 year ago

August 29, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Medical marijuana patients can now purchase cannabis grown by small businesses as part of their allotment, Illinois’ top cannabis regulator said, but smaller, newly licensed cannabis growers are still seeking greater access to the state’s medical marijuana customers.Illinois legalized medicinal marijuana beginning in 2014, then legalized it for recreational use in 2020. While the 2020 law legalized cannabis use for any adult age 21 or older, it did not expand licensing for medical dispensaries.Patients can purchase marijuana as part of the medical cannabis program at dual-purpose dispensaries, which are licensed to serve both medical and recreational customers. But dual-purpose dispensaries are greatly outnumbered by dispensaries only licensed to sell recreationally, and there are no medical-only dispensaries in the state.As another part of the adult-use legalization law, lawmakers created a “craft grow” license category that was designed to give more opportunities to Illinoisans hoping to legally grow and sell marijuana. The smaller-scale grow operations were part of the 2020 law’s efforts to diversify the cannabis industry in Illinois.Prior to that, all cultivation centers in Illinois were large-scale operations dominated by large multi-state operators. The existing cultivators, mostly in operation since 2014, were allowed to grow recreational cannabis beginning in 2019.Until recently, dual-purpose dispensaries have been unsure as to whether craft-grown products, made by social equity licensees — those who have lived in a disproportionately impacted area or have been historically impacted by the war on drugs — can be sold medicinally as part of a patient’s medical allotment.Erin Johnson, the state’s cannabis regulation oversight officer, told Capitol News Illinois last month that her office has “been telling dispensaries, as they have been asking us” they can now sell craft-grown products to medical patients.“There was just a track and trace issue on our end, but never anything statutorily,” she said.

Dilpreet Raju

Capitol News IllinoisThe graphic shows how cannabis grown in Illinois gets from cultivation centers to customers.

No notice has been posted, but Johnson’s verbal guidance comes almost two years after the first craft grow business went online in Illinois.It allows roughly 150,000 medical patients, who dispensary owners say are the most consistent purchasers of marijuana, to buy products made by social equity businesses without paying recreational taxes. However — even as more dispensaries open — the number available to medical patients has not increased since 2018, something the Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office “desperately” wants to see changed. Johnson said Illinois is a limited license state, meaning “there are caps on everything” to help control the relatively new market.Berwyn Thompkins, who operates two cannabis businesses, said the rules limited options for patients and small businesses.“It’s about access,” Thompkins said. “Why wouldn’t we want all the patients — which the (adult-use) program was initially built around — why wouldn’t we want them to have access? They should have access to any dispensary.”Customers with a medical marijuana card pay a 1% tax on all marijuana products, whereas recreational customers pay retail taxes between roughly 20 and 40% on a given cannabis product, when accounting for local taxes.While Illinois has received praise for its equity-focused cannabis law, including through an independent study that showed more people of color own cannabis licenses than in any other state, some industry operators say they’ve experienced many unnecessary hurdles getting their businesses up and running.The state, in fact, announced last month that it had opened its 100th social equity dispensary.But Steve Olson, purchasing manager at a pair of dispensaries (including one dual-purpose dispensary) near Rockford, said small specialty license holders have been left in the lurch since the first craft grower opened in October 2022.“You would think that this would be something they’re (the government) trying to help out these social equity companies with, but they’re putting handcuffs on them in so many different spots,” he said. “One of them being this medical thing.”Olson said he contacted state agencies, including the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, months ago about whether craft products can be sold to medical patients at their retail tax rate, but only heard one response: “They all say it was an oversight.”This potentially hurt social equity companies because they sell wholesale to dispensaries and may have been missing out on a consistent customer base through those medical dispensaries.Olson said the state’s attempts to provide licensees with a path to a successful business over the years, such as with corrective lotteries that granted more social equity licenses, have come up short.“It’s like they almost set up the social equity thing to fail so the big guys could come in and swoop up all these licenses,” Olson said. “I hate to feel like that but, if you look at it, it’s pretty black and white.”Olson said craft companies benefit from any type of retail sale.“If we sell it to medical patients or not, it’s a matter of, ‘Are we collecting the proper taxes?’ That’s all it is,” he said.State revenue from cannabis taxes, licensing costs and other fees goes into the Cannabis Regulation Fund, which is used to fund a host of programs, including cannabis offense expungement, the general revenue fund, and the R3 campaign aiming to uplift disinvested communities.For fiscal year 2024, nearly $256 million was paid out from Cannabis Regulation Fund for related initiatives, which includes almost $89 million transferred to the state’s general revenue fund and more than $20 million distributed to local governments, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue.Medical access still limitedThe state’s 55 medical dispensaries that predate the 2020 legalization law, mostly owned by publicly traded multistate operators that had been operating in Illinois since 2014 under the state’s medical marijuana program, were automatically granted a right to licenses to sell recreationally in January 2020. That gave them a dual-purpose license that no new entrants into the market can receive under current law.Since expanding their clientele in 2020, Illinois dispensaries have sold more than $6 billion worth of cannabis products through recreational transactions alone.Nearly two-thirds of dispensaries licensed to sell to medical patients are in the northeast counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will. Dual-purpose dispensaries only represent about 20 percent of the state’s dispensaries.While the state began offering recreational dispensary licenses since the adult-use legalization law passed, it has not granted a new medical dispensary license since 2018. That has allowed the established players to continue to corner the market on the state’s nearly 150,000 medical marijuana patients.But social equity licensees and advocates say there are more ways to level the playing field, including expanding access to medical sales.Johnson, who became the state’s top cannabis regulator in late 2022, expressed hope for movement during the fall veto session on House Bill 2911, which would expand medical access to all Illinois dispensaries.“We would like every single dispensary in Illinois to be able to serve medical patients,” Johnson said. “It’s something that medical patients have been asking for, for years.”Johnson said the bill would benefit patients and small businesses.“It’s something we desperately want to happen as a state system, because we want to make sure that medical patients are able to easily access what they need,” she said. “We also think it’s good for our social equity dispensaries, as they’re opening, to be able to serve medical patients.”Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, who was the first statewide project coordinator for Illinois’ medical cannabis program prior to joining the legislature, wrote in an email to Capitol News Illinois that the state needs to be doing more for its patients.“Illinois is failing the state’s 150,000 medical cannabis patients with debilitating conditions. Too many are still denied the patient protections they deserve, including access to their medicine,” Morgan wrote, adding he would continue to work with stakeholders on further legislation.Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.

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