JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 Democrats blocked business in the Missouri Senate for more than a day, preventing Republicans from sending voters a ballot question that, if approved, would limit future changes to the state constitution.
Republicans brought up the plan shortly before 2:40 p.m. on Monday. Democrats then began holding off action through a talking filibuster, which reached the 24-hour mark Tuesday afternoon and stretched into the evening.
Stakes are high: legislators face a 6 p.m. Friday deadline to complete regular business for the year. With the potential ballot question pending before the Senate, the chamber cannot act on any other bills.
Republicans want voters to approve the higher threshold in the Aug. 6 primary, before a likely Nov. 5 vote to overturn the state鈥檚 near-total abortion ban.
The extra barrier envisioned by Republicans would require constitutional amendments to receive majority approval in five of the state鈥檚 eight congressional districts, in addition to the current standard 鈥 a simple statewide majority.
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In addition to the higher threshold, Republicans want to add in a series of unrelated items to the ballot question, possibly making the resolution an easier sell to voters later this year.
The extra provisions include a prohibition on foreign governments contributing to constitutional amendment campaigns and a requirement that only U.S. citizens can vote on constitutional amendments.
But Democrats call extra provisions unnecessary 鈥渂allot candy鈥 to mislead voters. U.S. citizenship is already listed as a voter registration qualification in Missouri, and federal law already bars election spending by foreign nationals.
Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, the Senate sponsor of the plan, acknowledged in February a previous draft .
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to help the people understand that they shouldn鈥檛 be deceived,鈥 said Sen. Karla May, D-St. 不良研究所导航网址, said shortly after 11:30 p.m. Monday.
The Senate in February did approve a ballot question solely focused on the higher threshold, only after a coalition of Democrats and Republicans stripped out the extra provisions.
The House reversed course, sending a loaded-up bill back to the Senate.
鈥淚 think if we would just go back to what the original agreement was, that this could be on its way,鈥 Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, said on the Senate floor Monday.
Another factor in the final week is the Missouri Freedom Caucus, which has demanded final action on the initiative petition changes. Without it, they could hold up other bills if Republican leadership decided to move on to other business.
To push the ballot question through in its current form, Republican leaders may have to employ a rarely used parliamentary maneuver to silence the Democrats.
The motion to cut off a filibuster requires the signatures of 10 members of the 34-member Senate and 18 votes.
While the rule is used often in the House to cut off debate, it is seen as a last-resort option in the upper chamber that could derail the rest of the legislative session.
The resolution under consideration, if approved by a simple majority of voters statewide, would shift the initiative petition process away from a 鈥渙ne person, one vote鈥 standard, giving someone鈥檚 vote a different weight based on where they live.
For example, a constitutional amendment that wins statewide with overwhelming support from voters in metropolitan areas would still fail without support from heavily rural and Republican districts.
Ohio voters last year voted down a similar ballot question ahead of a November ballot question there to protect abortion rights in the state constitution. The higher threshold for constitutional amendments failed, and voters ultimately backed the abortion protections.
Republican legislators in Missouri have long sought to tamp down on citizen-led constitutional amendments, a way for voters to effectively side-step the overwhelmingly GOP Legislature.
Missouri voters in 2022 amended the constitution to legalize recreational marijuana, and in 2020 used the process to expand Medicaid. Legislators and Gov. Mike Parson were forced to fund the expansion after losing a court fight.
This year, the campaign to overturn the abortion law that prohibits abortions in nearly all cases has raised more than $5 million since launching a signature-gathering campaign in January. Organizers said they submitted more than 380,000 signatures to make this year鈥檚 ballot 鈥 more than twice the required amount.
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