JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Senate Democrats spent hours Tuesday blocking Republicans from voting on legislation to make it harder for voters to change the state’s constitution.
The resolution up for debate would increase the threshold needed to approve a referendum. The initiative petition process is how recreational and medical marijuana became legal.
Democrats filibustered for nearly 12 hours Monday and Tuesday, saying this legislation takes away the voice of the people.
“This would empower the swamp even more because it takes away one person, one vote,” Sen. Doug Beck, D-Affton, said.
Six weeks into session and Republicans are finally debating a priority.
“There’s a messaging effort from Democrats that this is about one person, one vote and that couldn’t be farther from the truth,” Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, said. “We’re not taking the right away from anybody.”
Coleman is sponsoring the legislation, which she said would safeguard the state’s founding document.
“Not everything that should be a state law should be in our state constitution,” Coleman said. “Missouri used to have a nine-page document, a founding document, and now it’s literally hundreds of pages. It’s like a book.”
Currently, it takes a simple majority—more votes for than against—to approve a referendum. Coleman’s legislation would require a simple majority statewide and also a majority in five of the eight U.S. Congressional Districts.
This comes as a group circulates a petition to ask voters if abortion rights should be enshrined in the constitution.
“They’re afraid, rightly, that voters are going to make their voices heard and restore abortion rights,” Sen. Lauren Arthur, D-Kansas City, said. “Rights that were taken away from them in 2018.”
Coleman, who is running for Congress, said this idea to make it harder for voters to amend the constitution has been something the Super Majority has worked on for years. Missouri’s initiative petition process, allowing voters to place constitutional amendments on the ballot by gathering signatures, has been around for more than a century.
“This is really not about abortion as much as they want to say it is,” Coleman said. “It is about any number of bad ideas that Democrats are pushing through the ballot using language that is deceptive to the voters.”
Democrats took turns holding the floor for hours Monday and Tuesday to prevent Republicans from moving forward on a topic they are calling a priority.
“I think that the voters feel like they should have a voice in what laws govern this state,” Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, said. “And when politicians are ignoring them and are not acting on things they want to see happen, they have to take the process into their own hands.”
The proposal includes what opponents call “ballot candy” to trick voters, who have the final say in this legislation.
“They are trying to stack the deck to mislead voters into voting for something that will give them more power,” Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, said.
Under Coleman’s version, the question would read:
“Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
- Allow only U.S. citizens to vote on constitutional amendments;
- Forbid foreign countries from funding constitutional amendments;
- Ban constitutional amendments allowing lobbyists’ gifts to lawmakers; and
- Pass constitutional amendments by a majority vote in a majority of congressional districts?”
“I don’t view that giving an opportunity for the electorate to vote in favor of something that they support is an inappropriate use of these documents,” Coleman said.
Republicans want those initiative petition changes on the August ballot to protect the state’s constitution if the abortion question makes the November ballot.
Under current law, campaigns are required to gather 8% of legal voters in six of the eight congressional districts to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
After debating for hours Monday and Tuesday, lawmakers will take Wednesday and Thursday off to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs at the Super Bowl parade and rally, stalling further debate on the topic.