Missouri voters will have another issue to weigh in about on Nov. 6. In late September, the Missouri Supreme Court decided not to hear a case about whether the Clean Missouri initiative petition can remain on the ballot—and since an appellate court in Kansas City upheld the measure (Amendment 1), it will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.
If Clean Missouri/Amendment 1 is approved by voters, Missouri would adopt a slate of ethics and redistricting reforms, The Kansas City Star reported. Under this measure:
- Campaign contribution limits would be lowered solicitation of such would be prohibited on state property
- Lobbyist gifts to lawmakers would be capped at $5 per gift
- A cooling off period of two years would be required after serving in office before legislators and their staffers can become paid lobbyists
- Legislative records would be subject to the Sunshine Law
- The state’s legislative redistricting system would be overhauled, by which a nonpartisan demographer would draw state House and Senate boundaries based on 2020 Census data and submit them for approval to bipartisan commissions
Opponents of Clean Missouri/Amendment 1 believe it violates a provision of the Missouri Constitution that limits the scope of initiative petitions. They also believe this this wide-ranging topic of reforming the Legislature shouldn’t happen at the polling place and that the initiative may be misleading to voters.
NFIB/Missouri doesn’t have an official position on Clean Missouri/Amendment 1. To read more about what it would do, check out this explanation from the Springfield News-Leader.
