Citizens in Charge

(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge, a national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, along with U.S. Term Limits, began running a television ad in Springfield, Missouri, blasting Rep. Mike Parson for his attempts in the Missouri Legislature to pass several measures that would “gut” term limits, unconstitutionally block citizens from petitioning to place issues on the ballot and make it impossible for citizens to speak with most legislators without first registering as lobbyists.

“The measures pushed by Representative Parson would essentially take away the First Amendment rights of Missouri citizens,” said Citizens in Charge President Paul Jacob. “It appears he does not want citizen involvement in government, except perhaps to vote him into office.”

Rep. Parson has repeatedly introduced anti-voter legislation – HB 1763 in 2008, HB 228 in 2009 and two measures this year, HB 1788 and HJR 63.  Each of these bills would have restricted the ballot initiative process in ways that have been ruled unconstitutional in other states. Parson supported the gutting of Missouri’s voter-enacted term limits law through an amendment that, if passed, would have doubled the amount of time legislators can stay in the same office.

Many citizen activists, including those in the Tea Party movement, were also upset by Parson’s role in shoving SB 844 through the House of Representatives in one day.  That bill included provisions that would have made an average citizen a class D felon if he or she “Attempts to influence any elected official other than an elected official who  represents the legislative district where the person resides” – unless the citizen registered as a lobbyist and filed the required quarterly reports.  (Cooler heads prevailed in the Senate and the offensive language was later stripped from the bill.)

Citizens in Charge Missouri coordinator, Ron Calzone, closely followed all these bills.  “We live in a republic,” Calzone pointed out. “In this era of Tea Parties and increasing citizen involvement, we can’t allow an elite ruling class to squelch the very people they are supposed to be serving. The people are citizens, not subjects. ”

To view the ad currently running on television in the Springfield, Missouri, market, please visit our YouTube Channel.