Federal Issues

Safety net services serve thousands of Missourians struggling to meet basic needs each year. Many of these services are federally funded in whole or in part. This series of fact sheets examines eligibility and enrollment for a variety of these services, including: Child Care Read More

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) provides cash assistance to families with children based on income and family size for a period not to exceed 45 months total in a lifetime (with some exceptions due to age, disability, and hardship). In September 2017, 12,032 Read More

MOHealthNet, Missouri’s Medicaid program, provides health coverage to low-income seniors, people with disabilities, children, pregnant women and very low-income parents. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) allows children in families with incomes above Medicaid limits, Read More

Housing assistance for low-income Missourians is provided through a patchwork of federal programs. The vast majority of these programs are operated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in partnership with state and local Housing Authorities. In FY2016, Read More

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) ensure that thousands of Missourians can access food each month. Click here to learn more about how these federally funded services operate in Read More

The federal government provides funding for energy assistance programs that provide limited financial assistance to help low-income Missouri families, seniors and people with disabilities with the costs of heating and cooling their homes in order to reduce the health and safety Read More

In FY2018, Missouri will receive nearly $37.9 million in federal TANF funding and an additional $103 million in other federal funding, including the Child Care Development Fund Block Grant. The federal funds maximize the ability of MO to invest in child care for working families Read More

Download PDF Version Public services lift 1.1 million Missourians out of poverty each year by helping working families with low wages, seniors and people with disabilities who have fixed incomes obtain health care, pay for child care, and fulfill a range of basic needs. Safety Read More

**Note: The recently released Senate discussion draft would further cut Medicaid and shift even more costs onto Missouri over time. As a result, the consequences described in the papers below remain. The caps included in both bills would force Missouri to raise taxes, cut Read More

Supporters of HB 253 often claim that the bill’s extreme tax cuts will make Missouri more like Texas.  But is that what Missourians want? Missouri is actually better off than Texas in a number of key areas.  Learn more here. Read More