Missouri state politicians vote to limit voters’ constitutional rights

By Tom Coleman and Russ Carnahan
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The Republican-controlled Missouri Legislature is on course to make it almost impossible for Missourians to successfully pass ballot referendums to overturn extreme GOP-enacted statutes or to utilize popular ballot initiatives to pass laws directly when the Legislature is complacent and fails to act.

In the past several years, citizen ballot initiatives in Missouri have succeeded in expanding Medicaid to more than 275,000 low-income Missourians and another increased the state’s minimum wage from $7.85 an hour in 2018 to $12 an hour in 2023. This will impact 677,000 Missourians. These are two important matters that the Legislature had failed to act on, so everyday citizens got organized and enacted them into law.

These citizen successes have raised the ire of most GOP legislators, and they are fighting back. Their aim is to muzzle Missourians by making it more difficult for the will of the people to be expressed. For example, the Missouri House has recently approved legislation that would:

• Increase the required number of signatures for initiative petitions to 10% from the current 8%, and the signatures must come from all eight congressional districts instead of the current requirement of six districts. It would probably increase the required number of signatures by more than 100,000.
• Increase the current simple majority vote for enactment to a two-thirds majority requirement.

Rep. Mike Henderson, the Republican sponsor of the House-passed bill, even admitted to reporters that citizens have resorted to pushing ballot initiatives because “it’s used too often to expand things that can’t get through the Legislature.”

Exactly.

Other bills have been introduced that would require ballot initiatives to be first approved by the Legislature before going to the voters. Such an arrangement would make a mockery of the public’s right to petition their government.

Another bill would require that constitutional amendments be approved by a majority of registered voters instead of a majority of votes cast on Election Day. Imagine if such a scheme were adopted to require lawmakers to win their own elections by that margin. Don’t hold your breath.

These proposed changes to the state’s constitution, if enacted, assure politicians in Jefferson City would be insulated from public opinion in its most direct form.

We understand why most Republicans are bent on pursuing these misdirected changes. The two of us have a combined 32 years as members of two legislative bodies — the U.S. Congress and the Missouri House of Representatives. We know the thinking of many legislators: They want all the power to pass laws, all the time — even when they don’t use that power for the people. In other words supporters of these changes are telling voters: Leave us alone.

It’s the mindset of a legislative body that is overwhelmingly dominated by one political party.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade was correct when she said citizens wouldn’t have to resort to bypassing the Legislature “if we did our job in the first place.”

The Legislature has in the past had help from Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who must approve language on the ballot explaining the initiative for the public. Often the strategy is to confuse the public or run out the clock.

Several lawsuits filed against Ashcroft allege his language is “insufficient, unfair and argumentative” and refers to terms not in the petition’s language. Proponents of the ballot initiative believe the language is calculated to prejudice voters against the proposal.

In a separate action, ballot supporters claim the secretary of state’s actions slowed down the process of collecting signatures. A plaintiffs’ legal brief said they were “eating up much of the time for circulation and effectively extinguishing the constitutional right.”

Missourians have had the power to place matters before the voters for more than 100 years. The current effort to sabotage ballot initiatives is an attack on our democracy. It cannot be justified. We urge Missourians to contact their state senator to voice their opposition to this legislative sleight-of-hand to deny citizens their rights under the Missouri constitution.
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Tom Coleman is a former Republican member of the Missouri House and U.S. congressman. He is an adviser to several pro-democracy organizations including Protect Democracy and the States United Democracy Center. Russ Carnahan is a former Democratic member of the Missouri House and U.S congressman. He serves as senior policy adviser for Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, LLP.

02.24.22
Coleman and Carnahan: Missouri state politicians vote to limit voters’ constitutional rights, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Photo Caption: The Missouri State Capitol building in Jefferson City. Credit: Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com