ST. LOUIS — Less than a month into their 2024 session, lawmakers in the Republican-led Missouri Legislature have set their sights on making it more difficult to amend the state constitution.
A state House committee advanced four different proposals Friday that could change how citizen-led measures can get on the ballot.
Under current Missouri law, groups representing different issues can propose measures for the ballot, after gathering a set number of signatures. It’s a process that allows voters to bypass the Legislature, and it requires a simple majority of voters in the state to pass a new policy. But the changes proposed by Missouri Republicans will change or add new requirements to that initiative process.
One bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Brad Hudson, is set to go before the House committee Tuesday. HJR 76 seeks to raise the threshold required to pass a constitutional amendment in the state. Under Hudson’s proposal, a simple majority for statewide passage is still needed, but adds a new requirement: Ballot initiatives must also get a majority of congressional districts for approval. Last year, a bill that would have raised that threshold to 57 percent failed.
Hudson said the proposal is about protecting the Missouri Constitution, saying it’s been left “vulnerable and open to out-of-state money and special interests” under current rules and regulations. But some Democrats in the state are trying to preserve the ballot initiative process by introducing legislation of their own.
Missouri is the latest state to re-examine its constitutional amendment procedure. In recent years, Republican legislators have proposed similar legislation in other states, though the majority of these efforts have failed.
In South Dakota, lawmakers struck down a similar measure a year ago. More than half of Ohio voters rejected Republican efforts in August to raise their ballot measure threshold.
Voters “have taken the power into their own hands to make decisions, and they trust themselves.”Voters in Arizona and North Dakota will decide on their own versions of the issue in November’s elections.
The moves to restrict constitutional amendments come after a wave of ballot initiatives became law in several states. Voters in Missouri passed recreational marijuana this way in 2022, and also legalized medical marijuana and expanded Medicaid via ballot measure in the years before that.
“[Voters] have taken the power into their own hands to make decisions and they trust themselves and so we have seen this effort over multiple years,” said Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. The progressive organization tracks and supports ballot measures across the country.
“We’re currently tracking 43 measures in 15 states that would impact the initiative process. Thirty-six of those have been filed through the state legislature,” Figueredo said.
Ahead of November’s elections, Missouri is the latest state to re-examine its constitutional amendment procedure. In this photo, St. Louis residents are casting their votes at a local elementary school on primary Election Day in 2022. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Ballot measures have been in the spotlight in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which left abortion rights to states.
They’ve been used to either protect citizen’s rights to reproductive care or further restrict them. In Ohio, voters not only legalized recreational marijuana but went on to enshrine access to abortion into the state constitution. Similar efforts have risen in Missouri, including two proposals seeking to get on the ballot this year. Both proposed measures are currently collecting signatures.
A ballot initiative allows citizens to weigh in directly on a change to the state’s constitution. The effort typically starts by collecting signatures to get a proposal on the ballot. This can appear in many forms including an initiated state statute, or constitutional amendment, or a veto referendum.
Voters in Missouri have recently used this tool to approve amendments, from health care to marijuana. Back in 2020, a measure on expanding Medicaid passed with about 53 percent voting yes.
Sometimes, proposals can still face challenges, even after getting a “yes” vote.
In response to the Medicaid expansion measure, for instance, the state’s Republicans declined to fund the expansion, and Republican Gov. Mike Parson said that the state would not follow through with it. Challenges to their opposition would also go to the Missouri Supreme Court, which ruled the expansion was indeed constitutional and it should move forward.
In 2018, Missourians voted yes on two ballot measures: one legalizing marijuana and another dedicating some tax dollars on healthcare for veterans. More than 65 percent voted yes. Two years later, voters would legalize recreational marijuana, too.
A Missouri House committee approved four versions of proposals to overhaul the initiative petition process after legislators said it’s too easy to amend the state’s constitution. Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters
While Missouri Republicans say reforming the ballot initiative process is long overdue, some critics, including Democratic state Rep. Joe Adams, say it’s a “power grab” that essentially denies citizens their right to participate in a democracy.
“I think what they’re [Republicans] trying to tell their constituents is, ‘We don’t want to hear from you guys. Just go home. Leave us alone. We’re running it,’” he said. “They’ve come up with this strange idea that they’re better equipped. They know what’s good for their constituents, not what their constituents want.”
Adams is also sponsoring an amendment but with a different goal: Solidifying measures passed by voters. HJR 13, which was pre-filed in December, bars the state General Assembly from amending or repealing an initiative measure approved by the voters.
“What I see is a denial of a democracy to the citizens of the state of Missouri,” he said.
Adams’ proposal has been referred to the Elections and Elected Officials Committee but no hearing has been set.
When asked how he would respond to this criticism, Hudson told the NewsHour, “We are not trying to change the people’s right.”
“What we are dealing with is the Constitution, and when you consider the kind of document the Constitution is versus what the statute books should be, there absolutely should be a higher threshold,” he said.
Still, Figueredo argues this is a matter that affects voters regardless of their beliefs — and they are paying attention.
“This is not just Republicans, this isn’t just Democrats, these aren’t just independent voters,” she said. “These are voters across party lines that have voted for these issues, regardless of party affiliation, that have said, ‘I want this change and I trust myself, my community, to make this decision.’”
Left: People vote during a 2022 primary Election Day at Barack Obama Elementary School in St Louis. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Gabrielle Hays is a Communities Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour out of St. Louis.
Support Provided By: Learn more
Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
