JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A filibuster from Missouri Democrats hit the 28-hour mark on Thursday evening, as they continued to block Republicans in the Missouri Senate from passing legislation that would make it harder for voters to amend the state constitution.

Currently, initiative petitions only need a simple majority of more than 50% to pass. However, Republicans want to make the process more difficult as an initiative petition on abortion that is poised to go on the ballot in November. Initiative petitions were used to legalize medicinal and recreational marijuana and expand Medicaid in Missouri. 

An initiative petition is a form of direct democracy that allows voters to amend their state constitution or state statute without going through the legislature or governor. About half of the states in the U.S. have some form of initiative or referendum.

The measure would require future amendments to have a majority vote in at least five of the state’s eight congressional districts, as well as a majority vote statewide. Democrats oppose the measure, but the bill passed the House in March.

“We are more than happy to let this SJR out of this chamber without the steroids of politics, otherwise known as ballot candy that has nothing to do with the initiative petition process,”  Senate Minority leader Sen. John Rizzo D-Independence, said during his Tuesday night shift of the filibuster. 

Rizzo added that he would even vote for it if the ballot candy was removed, even though it would be a “horrible vote for him” in an effort to end the deadlock. 

Despite passing the bill in March, the Missouri House added the so-called “ballot candy” that would add language to the ballot asking residents if they want to ban non-citizens from voting and ban foreign entities from sponsoring constitutional amendments. 

However, the Missouri Constitution and federal law already prohibit non-citizens from voting. Democrats argue that Republicans only want this language on the ballot to “deceive” voters. 

“There’s a group of people in the majority party that are dead set on making sure that people are misinformed about what they are voting on so that they lose their rights to be able to bring things forward to the ballot box,” Rizzo said. “The good news is the Democratic Party is standing strong with the senior John Ashcroft from 1992 who also agrees with us that this was not a good idea in the 90s.” 

The legislature is set to adjourn at 6 p.m. Friday, and the Missouri Senate is still on Monday’s business. The filibuster began around 2:40 p.m. Monday and Democrats have insisted on blocking all actions in the Senate until the session adjourns. The record for the longest filibuster in the Missouri Senate was set by Republicans in May when they stalled for 41 hours.

Check back for updates.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) — Candidates for the Missouri attorney general’s office will participate in an election forum on Tuesday night.

The forum will feature Democratic Candidate Elad Gross, Republican current Attorney General Andrew Bailey, and Republican challenger Will Scharf.

The event starts at 7 p.m. at Calvary Chapel in east Springfield. The candidates will participate in an open forum about the future of the office and plans for Missouri.

The Missouri Democrat Party hopes the public will get a better sense of the candidates after hearing them speak on the issues at events like Springfield.

“I hope people are able to separate themselves from the R or D after their names and really hear what the candidates are saying. I really think that it’s going to present a good opportunity for them to hear the values and hear the types of things that each candidate wants to be talking about,” says Chelsea Rodriguez.

KY3 contacted the Missouri Republican Party about the forum, and they declined the request for an interview. KY3 asked for a statement.

The public is welcome to attend the event and hear from the candidates.

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com

Copyright 2024 KY3. All rights reserved.

A Democratic filibuster of legislation making it harder for Missourians to amend the state constitution through citizen-led initiatives stretched through the night and into its 15th hour Tuesday morning. 

Though Democrats oppose the changes to the initiative petition process, their filibuster was focused on GOP efforts to include “ballot candy” that would add unrelated issues about immigrants voting and foreign fundraising to the question that would appear on the statewide ballot. 

Unless Republicans agree to ditch all of the ballot candy — which was removed when the Senate originally passed the bill in March — Democrats have vowed to block all action in the Senate until the legislative session adjourns at 6 p.m. Friday. 

“Since it is forever,” state Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Kansas City Democrat, said of the amendment. “This is worth fighting and trying to stop.” 

Republicans show no signs of backing down on the ballot candy, raising the odds that the Senate will be unable to pass anything else before adjourning.

“There is a hope that we are able to find a resolution to move forward so that the rest of session is able to operate,” state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican from Arnold sponsoring the initiative petition bill.

If the bill clears the legislature, it would go on the statewide ballot, most likely in August. 

Missourians would be asked whether they want to require constitutional amendments be approved by both a majority of votes statewide and a majority of votes in a majority of the state’s eight congressional districts.

Currently, amendments pass with a simple majority.

Republicans have pushed to change the initiative petition process for years, but the effort picked up steam more recently as a campaign to restore abortion access in Missouri advanced closer to appearing on the ballot. 

These lawmakers on the right have said that without eliminating the simple majority, abortion would likely become legal again. Missouri was the first state to outlaw abortion in nearly every circumstance in June 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned. 

Democrats say the initiative petition process gives voice to citizens when elected officials aren’t acting on the will of the people.

“There must be some serious concerns that this isn’t the will of the people – the majority of the folks in the state of Missouri want autonomy over their bodies,” said state Sen. Steve Roberts, a St. Louis Democrat. “Otherwise why would you lead a misguided effort to confuse voters to make it more difficult to have their voices heard?”

In addition to the changes to the initiative petition process, the bill being blocked in the Senate would ask Missourians if they want to bar non-citizens from voting and ban foreign entities from contributing to or sponsoring constitutional amendments. 

Non-citizens have been barred from voting in Missouri since 1924. Federal law already bans foreign entities from getting involved.

Arthur said these “are not real threats,” but rather “scary hypotheticals.”

During Senate debate Monday, Democratic state Sen. John Rizzo of Independence said he’s been approached by Republicans trying to negotiate to take some, but not all, of the ballot candy. 

“No,” Rizzo said he told them. “I’m not deceiving voters just a little bit.”Arthur replied that Democrats will only end the filibuster if the ballot candy is completely removed, or if they’re forced to through a “previous question,” a rarely-used procedural maneuver to cut off a filibuster and force a vote on a bill.

The previous question is considered a last resort in the Senate because the response is typically total gridlock as Democrats would use the chamber’s rules to derail the rest of the legislative session. 

During a television interview broadcast Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin referred to the previous question motion as the “nuclear” option, saying she hasn’t made a decision yet whether to use it to pass initiative petition legislation or not. 

But last week, state Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican and a member of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, said his party is ready to use “any means necessary” to pass the initiative petition bill.

Republicans have said the change is necessary, arguing Missouri’s constitution is too easy to change, and that passing this amendment would give more voice to rural voters. Democrats say the bill is an attack on the concept of “one person, one vote.”

Senate Democrats on Monday continued to argue that such a constitutional change would make it virtually impossible for citizen-led ballot measures to ever be successful. 

A February analysis by The Independent found that under the concurrent majority standard being proposed by Republicans, as few as 23% of voters could defeat a ballot measure. This was done by looking at the majority in the four districts with the fewest number of voters in 2020 and 2022.

State Sen. Tracy McCreery, an Olivette Democrat, cited this story on Monday afternoon, saying that this outcome “should raise alarms.”

“It will make politicians even more powerful,” McCreery said. “It takes power away from the people and puts way more power into the hands of politicians.”

At about 4 a.m., Rizzo took the floor again for his second filibuster shift this week.

“I don’t see the end in sight any time soon,” he said.

“Unfortunately we have to be here in the last week of session as bills are dying minute by minute, and lobbyists are probably running around somewhere here in a few hours screaming and yelling about why their bills are dying,” Rizzo said. “Because they can’t live without ballot candy.”