More than a thousand conservative lawmakers and business executives are gathering this week for a conference that could shape a new wave of Republican legislation in state capitols pushing for deeper tax cuts, limits on union powers and a private-sector makeover for government Medicaid programs.

Is the city obliged to its past? Or can Detroit renege on its promises to thousands of retirees for the sake of its present city services?

As the once-proud city of Detroit humbles itself in bankruptcy court, its financial future may hinge on this key question: Is the city obliged to its past? Or can Detroit renege on its promises to thousands of retirees for the sake of its present city services?

The Missouri House passed a nearly $25 billion budget Thursday that would fund modest increases for public education but not a Medicaid health care expansion for lower-income adults sought by Gov. Jay Nixon.

Given the choice of whether to expand Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care law, many Republican governors and lawmakers initially responded with an emphatic no. Now they are increasingly hedging their objections.

Missouri senators endorsed a two-part plan Tuesday night to replenish an insolvent fund for disabled workers and stop people with job-related diseases from bringing big-dollar lawsuits against their employers.

Some Missouri lawmakers already hesitant to expand Medicaid now have a new reason to object: the potential effect on the state's debt.

Nearly two dozen years after Monroe Gunter retired from a long career at a Missouri power company, he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer often caused by exposure to asbestos.