Conservative leaders warn Missouri Amendment 6 strips power from lawmakers, protects liberal policies 

Missouri voters will soon decide on a constitutional amendment aimed at drastically changing how the state handles initiative petitions.

If Amendment 6 passes, it would change the state constitution to require an 80% vote in both chambers of the Legislature to change anything passed by initiative petition. It also would retroactively apply the new rules to voter-approved measures dating back to Jan. 1, 2010, while also establishing new procedures for future legislative action.

A high bar for lawmakers

Attorney General Catherine Hanaway believes the threshold would effectively handcuff the Legislature.

“Getting 80% of the Missouri General Assembly to do anything is impossible,” Hanaway told Heartlander News in an exclusive interview. “I remember when I was in the General Assembly, we debated what should be the state dirt for a couple of hours, which didn’t seem like a good use of taxpayer money.”

The amendment would require 131 members of the Missouri House and 28 members of the Missouri Senate to approve any changes. Missouri Democrats currently hold 52 seats in the House and 10 seats in the Senate.

Hanaway argues the measure is deliberately designed to permanently protect or enable liberal policies.

“The liberals have not been able to get anybody elected, and so as a result, they’ve done everything by initiative petition,” she said. “That’s why they want to freeze the Legislature out. And from a pragmatic perspective, if people think the ballot is too long now, everything will go to the vote of the people. We will be legislating at the ballot box.”

Hanaway added voters should be wary of cementing recent changes into the constitution without recourse.

“Do you want to lock in everything that’s happened in the last decade – gambling, marijuana, abortion – virtually forever, and anything that might happen through initiative petition, do you want to lock that in for generations?” she asked. “To me, it’s the most un-American thing I can imagine. You also take away all of the power of your elected representatives.”

Grassroots support or outside money?

Supporters of the measure argue it protects the voice of the people. The “Vote Yes” campaign claims the amendment is “written by everyday Missourians” and “protects your vote from being overturned.”

Liberty Alliance USA’s Andy Bakker strongly disputes this characterization. He called it the “principal deceit” of the yes campaign and argued the initiative petition process is driven by wealthy out-of-state interests.

“Initiative petitions are an easy way for big-moneyed interests to get their preferred regulations into the constitution,” Bakker told Heartlander News. “At this point, the signature thresholds that we use in this state are really a test of fundraising, not of public support. So, if you’re able to get $200,000 to hire these canvassers and put them out in the parking lot of every single Walmart until you get enough signatures, understanding that about 30% of them are going to be bad, you can basically get anything on the ballot, and if you have enough money, you can get anything through. I think that is really the principal deceit of the yes campaign.”

Bakker also challenged the campaign’s claim lawmakers are overturning voter intent, pointing to recent election history.

“[The old] Amendment 3 and Cleaner Missouri: those were all voted on by the public,” Bakker said. “It wasn’t legislators that were overturning that. They kind of want to have it both ways on that thing.”

Bakker argued citizens simply don’t have the time to micromanage every policy detail.

“We elect these people to do a job to represent us in Jefferson City,” Bakker said. “Most of us live busy lives where we’ve got to worry about making ends meet and taking care of our families and all of these things throughout the day that we can’t really be in the weeds of every single policy issue that they deal with in Jefferson City. So that’s why we elect people to represent us in our interests there. This just short circuits that whole process.”

Amendment 6 would also place judicial rewriting authority directly into the state constitution. The measure overrides a previous bill requiring courts to give the secretary of state up to three opportunities to revise challenged ballot language before rewriting it themselves.

“I expect this will get challenged in court,” Bakker said. “I would like to think they would throw it out, but that’s clearly not a guarantee.”

Polling data shows steep climb for Amendment 6 opponents

Public polling indicates the measure currently enjoys strong support despite pushback from conservatives.

An August survey conducted by Saint Louis University and YouGov found 48% of likely voters support the initiative petition amendment, while 21% oppose it and 32% remain unsure.

An October poll by Remington Research Group/Missouri Scout shows the measure leading 46% to 26%, with 28% of voters still undecided. The poll only surveyed 684 likely voters.

“The no campaign would need to win essentially every remaining undecided voter, and given the imbalance in spending, that seems unlikely to me,” Bakker said.

Bakker warned future fixes will require entirely new statewide campaigns if Amendment 6 passes.

“When it is time to make changes to this, and we’re going to have to make changes because this is unacceptable, we’re going to have to run it as an initiative petition instead of a legislative referral,” he said. “That’s the biggest practical implication.”

Amendment 6 official ballot language

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:

• expand the initiative and referendum petition process by making it a fundamental right;

• allow courts to revise ballot summaries through lawsuits;

• prohibit the legislature from weakening initiative or referendum powers;

• prohibit the legislature from changing or repealing laws enacted through the initiative process, or passing laws similar to those rejected by referendum, without approval from at least 80% of both chambers; and preserve existing majority vote and signature requirements for initiative and referendum petitions?

State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings.

(Image credit: Missouri Right to Life Political Action Committee)