Missouri Senate Democrats continue to block action on latest GOP initiative petition plan

By St. Louis Post-Dispatch via My Courier-Tribune

JEFFERSON CITY — Democrats in the Missouri Senate pushed forward with an hourslong filibuster Tuesday morning to block action on the latest Republican proposal aimed at blocking progressive ballot questions opposed by voters in conservative areas of the state.

Members of the minority party began the speaking marathon shortly before 4:30 p.m. Monday and continued to hold the floor 16 hours later. Amid the stalemate, almost all Senate committee hearings for Tuesday were cancelled.

Republicans late Monday unveiled a new draft the sponsor, Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, said would tighten the resolution. And two additional drafts had been filed by the morning.

Her latest measure would require citizen-driven constitutional amendments to win approval in a majority of congressional districts, in addition to a simple majority. Constitutional amendments proposed by the General Assembly, currently controlled by the GOP, would only need a simple majority statewide.

The new roadblock for citizen-led amendments to the constitution would take effect with a simple majority vote later this year.

Democrats were blocking action — at least for now — even though Republicans hold 24 of the 34 seats in the Missouri Senate.

The chamber typically allows unlimited debate — until a “nuclear option” majority vote is employed to force a vote. That is only used as an option of last resort.

Coleman’s latest measure still included unrelated provisions Democrats derided as “ballot candy” designed to trick voters into voting “yes” on Election Day.

Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, late Monday signaled Democrats would end their filibuster and allow the measure to advance if the extraneous provisions were removed.

“I’d imagine we can probably sit down if you take the ballot candy out and we can have a fair fight at the ballot box,” Rizzo said Monday night.

The initial Republican plan on the Senate floor included three provisions unrelated to the highest-profile proposal making constitutional amendments more difficult to approve.

The latest plan, as of Tuesday morning, would abandon one of the provisions: a series of bans on future constitutional amendments. The ban would’ve barred questions proposing sales taxes hikes on food, to defund the police, legalize lobbyist gifts to state legislators, and more.

But two unrelated provisions remained: restricting voting on constitutional amendments to U.S. citizens and prohibiting foreign funding of constitutional amendments. U.S. citizenship is already required to vote in Missouri and federal law already prohibits foreign spending in U.S. elections.

The latest ballot summary mentioned the proposed higher threshold first, followed by mention of the two unrelated proposals.

The legislation is Senate Joint Resolution 74. To listen to live debate, go to https://chamber.senate.mo.gov/chamber.