These ballot questions, including abortion access, certified for November ballot

Amendments and propositions on sports gambling, sheriffs retirement fund, voting rights and minimum wage also on ballot.

Four amendments to Missouri’s constitution and one proposition on minimum wage were certified Tuesday for the November ballot by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.

This includes one amendment that could eliminate Missouri’s abortion ban and enshrine abortion and contraception access.

More than 380,000 signatures were gathered in an initiative petition and were determined as sufficient in six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. Republican lawmakers failed to pass initiative petition rule changes likely aimed at this issue during the Missouri General Assembly regular session earlier this year.

With the certification of the abortion access amendment, it likely takes the wind out of Republican sails for changing initiative petition rules next year, said Peverill Squire, professor of political science and Hicks and Martha Griffiths Chair in American Political Institutions at the University of Missouri, last month.

The abortion access question could help boost Democratic candidates in the November election, added Ben Warner, MU associate professor in the Department of Communication and co-director of the university’s Political Communication Institute.

“(Abortion rights) is a winner for Democrats if it is what voters have in mind when they go to the ballot box all over the country. It is unclear whether that will be top of mind for voters. That is why I would expect Democrats to do everything to make it top of mind,” Warner said last month.

The Amendment 3 ballot question will ask for a Yes or No vote to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

• establish a right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, with any governmental interference of that right presumed invalid;
• remove Missouri’s ban on abortion;
• allow regulation of reproductive health care to improve or maintain the health of the patient;
• require the government not to discriminate, in government programs, funding, and other activities, against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care; and
• allow abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman?

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft in ballot information online notes local governmental entities estimate costs of at least $51,000 annually in reduced tax revenues and significant state revenue losses. A full fiscal note explaining the the estimated losses was not yet available.

Other ballot questions

Ballot amendment questions also were certified by Ashcroft on sports gambling (Amendment 2), sheriffs retirement fund (Amendment 6), voting rights (Amendment 7), and a proposition on minimum wage (Proposition A). The only one that failed certification was an Osage River gambling boat license amendment.

Amendment 2 depending on how the vote goes in November could allow sports betting, puts an age limit on betting, imposes taxes and license fees on sports betting, and allows the Missouri General assembly to enact laws consistent with the amendment. There is an estimated one-time cost of $660,000 and annual costs of $5.2 million. Initial license fees are estimated at $11.75 million and betting revenues are estimated anywhere from $0 to $28.9 million annually for the state. Local government revenue estimates were not available. Advocates say this will boost education funding.

Amendment 6 reestablishes a retirement fund for county sheriffs, county prosecutors and circuit court attorneys that had used ticket fines and court costs as its funding source. A state law from 1983 originally set up the fund, but it was deemed unconstitutional in 2021. Two bills signed in 2023 by Gov. Parson set up the Sheriff’s Retirement System, but a person elected Sheriff has to serve two four-year terms before they are vested by it and must contribute 5% toward their own pension. Those already retired could lose out on their pension under the old fund, based on statements made by Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey during a primary election forum last month. Carey sits on the Missouri Sheriffs retirement board.

Amendment 7 makes it unlawful for non U.S. citizens to vote in elections, which already is state law; prohibits ranked-choice voting; requires whoever has the most votes winning the party nomination during a primary election that their name is what is on the ballot for the general election, which already is done in Missouri. Ranked-choice voting is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots, per Ballotpedia. There is an exception for the final part of the amendment for municipal elections where more than one candidate may fill a seat, such as at-large alder persons, council members or trustees.

The proposition could raise Missouri minimum wage by $1.25 each year on Jan. 1 until 2026, bringing the state minimum wage to $15. The statutory proposition also requires employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every thirty hours worked. State governmental entities estimate additional one-time costs of $0 to $53,000, and ongoing costs ranging from $0 to at least $256,000 per year by 2027. State and local government tax revenue changes are unknown and dependent on business decisions.

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on X, formerly Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.