Missouri’s Battle On Initiative Rights
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.
Similar restrictions have been struck down repeatedly all across the country as unconstitutional violations of the First Amendment rights of citizens. Jacob called the bill “the most facially unconstitutional bill proposed anywhere in the nation this year.” He told legislators that if HB 228 is passed, it will be challenged and overturned in court, thus “[handing] Missouri taxpayers a whopping legal bill to boot.”
Ron Calzone with Missouri First and Missouri Citizens for Property Rights led off the testimony against the bill. “This is supposed to be the people’s process…this bill, I’m afraid, will make it only possible for the wealthy and the well-connected, or people with large organizations like perhaps labor unions, to get it done,” Calzone said.
A number of citizens also testified in opposition to HB 228 at the hearing, as did representatives of the Missouri ACLU, the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative and Americans for Prosperity-Missouri.
Speaking in favor of restricting the petition rights of Missouri citizens were lobbyists with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, the Missouri chapter of the NEA, the Missouri Municipal League, the Missouri Restaurant Association, the Missouri League of Women Voters, the Missouri Farm Bureau, and the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association.
Digg
Propeller
Reddit
Comments
I wonder if “Laughing Boy” Representative, Jim Guest(R) will have anything to say about this in his next “propaganda pamphlet” to we the (Sheeple) Constituents of the 5th District? Being a “Cattleman,” a longtime “Bumkin” for the NEA, and Missouri Farm Bureau, it doesn’t take a genius to see through to the rotten core of “his” apple for the teacher! The rights of the common people be damned, right Jim?
For the life of me, I can’t understand why The Missouri League of Women Voters would be in favor of this type of legislation. Of course it could be that they are somehow tied in with the NEA and the Unions. Well….. I’ll be darned!
I can’t believe I am going along with the ACLU, but I can’t believe that anyone would want to choke off the citizen’s right of expression as this one. If I lived there, I would feel like someone had their hands around my throat.
Any representative that votes for this bill should not be re-elected to office. Go get’em citizens of Missouri
Post new comment