Missouri

Missouri

Supporters of a ballot initiative that would limit all statewide office holders to 2 four-year terms have began collecting signatures. They hope to place the measure on the November 2010 ballot.

Read the story from the Joplin Independent

Yesterday, Citizens in Charge Foundation President Paul Jacob was in Missouri testifying against House Bill 228. The legislation would harm the initiative and referendum process by imposing a residency restriction, banning the payment of petition circulators on a per signature basis and prohibiting citizens from carrying more than one petition at a time.

The bill would require all circulators to be Missouri residents and would bar them from being paid on a per signature basis….

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Donors to charities, private schools, and school districts could claim up to a 50 percent tax credit for their donations under an initiative currently circulating in Missouri. Supporters must collect signatures of 8 percent of voters in six congressional districts.

Read the story from the Columbia Missourian

Today Paul Jacob, President of Citizens in Charge, will be in Missouri helping local citizens fight for their voting rights.

Local activists have invited Paul to Missouri to discuss the importance of the ballot initiative process. In an email to local voters, the Missourians write:

The Missouri Legislature is considering rewriting parts of a voter-approved ballot measure on casinos in order to distribute money generated for public education. The ballot measure, passed by voters last year, created new taxes on casinos but did not provide a proper method to distribute those tax dollars to Missouri schools. Lawmakers have come up with varying proposals on what to do with the money.

Read the story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

History

Mon, Feb 16 by Anonymous

Initiative and referendum became part of Missouri’s constitution
primarily as the result of a decade of work by three people: St. Louis
attorney Silas L. Moser, William Preston Hill, M.D., Ph.D., and Anna Beard,
Dr. Hill’s assistant.

Grade

Mon, Feb 16 by Anonymous

State Balloting Process

Mon, Feb 16 by Anonymous

After forming their committee, proponents file the full
text of their initiative with the Secretary of State (SOS), along with a
sample petition form. The Secretary of State reviews the petition for form
and also writes a ballot title and summary based on the full text. The SOS
will take a suggested title and summary from proponents – but are not
obligated to use it. Once the SOS writes the title and summary, it is
forwarded to the Attorney General for final approval. After the initiative is
filed, the State Auditor writes a fiscal impact statement.

Ballot Qualifications & Schedule

Mon, Feb 16 by Anonymous

Date Initiative language can be submitted to state for 2002: Any time.

Signatures are tied to vote of which office: Governor

Next Gubernatorial election: 2012

Votes cast for governor in last election: 2,813,898

You have full Initiative & Referendum rights. Citizens can pass laws they write or suspend a statute passed by the Legislature by collecting enough petition signatures to place the statute on the statewide ballot for a decision by the voters. Voters can also initiate constitutional amendments by Initiative.

Coalition for an Open & Accessible Initiative Process:

Missouri Citizens for Property Rights

Missouri First

Voter Protection Alliance

Americans for Prosperity, Missouri

Critics of embryonic stem cell research have accused three top Missouri officials of conspiring to prepare an unfair ballot summary for a proposal to bar use of public funds for abortion and human cloning.

The claim is asserted in a lawsuit by Missouri Roundtable for Life seeking a new ballot summary and cost estimate for a proposed amendment to the Missouri Constitution that proponents hope to put on the 2010 ballot.

A judge this week rejected a lawsuit that aimed to stop two tax-lowering ballot initiatives in the Mehlville Fire Protection District.

Mehlville resident Dennis Skelton sued the district’s board of directors, claiming the ballot measures were illegal.

The board of directors voted Jan. 23 to place two measures on the ballot for the April 7 election.

Fed up with the Utah Legislature’s slow progress on health system reform, Joe Jarvis is considering putting the matter in your hands.

If lawmakers fail to produce a blueprint for real change by the end of the session, Jarvis said, he will aggressively pursue a statewide ballot proposition — one that targets unsafe hospital practices and over-utilization of health care, and limits when private insurance companies can reject applicants.

Last month, numerous Greene County voters said they stood in polling booths, puzzled about what a county ballot initiative meant.

Some told reporters they had no idea what they voted for or against because the ballot language for Question 1 read like a section of law only discernable with a copy of the state constitution handy.

Sen. Jack Goodman, R-Mount Vernon, wants to reform the way ballot questions are presented to voters by giving them a “fair” interpretation of what current laws mean and how they would be altered under the proposed changes.