State Feed: Missouri

Missouri: Dog-breeding Law Catalyzes New Initiative

AmandaKathryn — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:52:21 -0400

During this year’s legislative session, Missouri lawmakers rewrote a voter-passed law regulating dog breeders. They also tried to meet a demand of business groups to eliminate cost-of-living increases in the voter-approved state minimum wage.

And since voters imposed strict campaign finance limits in 1994, lawmakers have twice acted to change those limits, including eliminating them entirely in 2006.

The routine rewriting of voter initiatives would end if a new initiative makes the 2012 ballot and wins approval.

Missouri Litigators Honored for Work to Protect Initiative Campaign’s First Amendment Rights

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:34:24 -0400

(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge Foundation, a national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, presented Dale Doerhoff and Heidi Doerhoff Vollet with the July 2010 John Lilburne Award. Both Dale and Heidi are being honored this month for their exceptional advocacy in support of the First Amendment and citizen initiative rights in Missouri.

Coalition of Citizen Rights Groups Applaud Missouri Court of Appeals Decision

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:42:30 -0400

(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Citizens in Charge Foundation, a transpartisan national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, and a coalition of other citizen rights groups applauded Thursday’s decision by the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District to protect the First Amendment privacy of sensitive campaign information in court proceedings related to ballot title language of citizen initiatives.

Missouri: Taser use ban has enough signatures supporters say

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 10:27:10 -0400

A Columbia group that opposes police use of Tasers says it has collected enough signatures for a November ballot initiative against the weapons. Organizers of People for a Taser-Free Columbia say they have collected roughly 4,000 voter signatures in less than two months. They plan to present the petitions to the city clerk on Wednesday morning.

Read the story from KPLR 11

Missouri: Opponents claim judicial initiative supporters don't have the signatures

Thu, 27 May 2010 12:37:28 -0400

Opponents of a ballot question to scrap Missouri’s non-partisan court plan say its backers have not gathered enough signatures to place it on the November ballot. The current system for selecting judges to the Missouri Supreme Court, Appeals courts and some circuit courts relies on judicial panels to select nominees, which are then chosen by the governor. The initiative would require elections for all of Missouri’s judges.

Missouri: 4 initiatives make it to final step before ballot

Tue, 18 May 2010 14:59:43 -0400

Four initiative petitions have made it through to the final step of approval before possibly going to voters on the November ballot. The intiative petition process started with about 100 possible petitions, which was narrowed down to 23 that the Secretary of State approved to be circulated in the state. The two constitutional amendments and two statutory amendments are all that remain, and Secretary of State spokesperson Laura Egerdal says all four of the petitions will be reviewed one last time.

Citizens' Rights Safe in Many States as State Legislatures End Sessions

Tue, 18 May 2010 14:23:59 -0400

Of the 45 states whose legislatures hold sessions in 2010, 27 of them have adjourned for the year, and 5 more will wrap up before the end of the month. Of the more than 80 bills dealing with the initiative and referendum process in various states, 51 of them would have reduced citizens’ initiative rights. Thanks to the work of activists in our coalitions, only 3 bills reducing citizen’s rights have passed and become law.

Missouri: House votes to put healthcare measure on ballot

Fri, 14 May 2010 14:31:33 -0400

Missouri is poised to become the first state to put a new federal health insurance mandate to a vote of its residents. The Missouri House gave final approval Tuesday to a measure that will appear on the Aug. 3 ballot stating that people and employers cannot be compelled to have health insurance nor penalized for paying for health care out of their own pocketbooks.

Read the story from the Lake Wylie Pilot

Missouri: Puppy mill initiative gets big name support

Tue, 11 May 2010 12:32:09 -0400

A ballot initiative is using well-known names like Tony La Russa to help support its cause. St. Louis Cardinals manager, Tony La Russa, has teamed up with some politicians and veterinarians to put an end to puppy mills. La Russa and eight other members are now participants in the Puppy Mills Reform Committee. Created by the Missourians For the Protection of Dogs group, the committee aims to fight against and take a stand against Missouri’s current puppy mills.

Missouri: Light rail measure gets signatures

Tue, 11 May 2010 11:34:25 -0400

Clay Chastain is back in Kansas City trying to get light rail back on the ballot. Meeting with reporters Monday at Union Station, Chastain said he had about a quarter of the signatures needed to put a light rail proposal on the November ballot.

Read the story from the Kansas City Star

Missouri: Puppy mill ballot measure could be stopped by lawsuit

Wed, 05 May 2010 13:39:40 -0400

Three petition drives met the deadline to turn in signatures for spots on the statewide ballot in November. One of the proposals deals with stronger regulations for puppy mills. Supporters and opponents of the petition agree large puppy mills are problem and harming animals is never acceptable. However, it’s how to approach the problem where the two sides butt heads. If there is one thing most people can agree on, it’s that animal abuse is wrong.

Read the story from KY 3NBC

Missouri: Deadlines met for petition signature turn in

Mon, 03 May 2010 11:38:44 -0400

Petitions to restrict the collection of taxes and to change the way some judges get their jobs made it to the Secretary of State’s office Sunday in advance of the 5:00 p.m. deadline. A group hoping to set standards for large puppy mills in Missouri was also there when the doors opened. The group Missourians for the Protection of Dogs delivered three carts full of signatures.

Read the story from KRCG 13

Petition Signatures Turned In for Missouri Ballot Measures

Mon, 03 May 2010 11:20:57 -0400

Yesterday petition groups in Missouri turned in signatures for a variety of measures hoping to get on the ballot this year. Ballotpedia covered the turning in of signatures on Twitter and also put up a story on Watchdog.org about what’s going on in the state regarding initiative & referendum this year. Make sure to go and check it out.

Missouri: Petition signatures submitted for earnings tax measure

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:01:02 -0400

Backers of an initiative that would give voters the opportunity to repeal the St. Louis and Kansas City earnings taxes, have submitted their petitions to the Secretary of State’s office, with twice the number of signatures needed.

Missouri: Tax reducing measure will likely be on ballot

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:53:12 -0400

A group said they have twice as many signatures as necessary to put a income tax-reduction measure on the November ballot. The group, “Let the Voters Decide,” submitted twice as many signatures Tuesday as necessary to add the measure to the ballot. The initiative would prohibit local earnings taxes in Missouri towns. It would also allow voters in St. Louis and Kansas City to decide if they want those taxes to continue.

LIVE: Listen as Missouri Senators Debate Protecting Voters Signatures and Petitioning Rights

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:15:19 -0400

Senate Bill 818, which will protect voters from having their signatures unfairly taken off a petition and will prevent petition efforts from being tied up in court, will be debated today at 2:30 Central Time on the Senate floor. You can listen live by going here and clicking on “Open Floor Action in New Window.”

Citizens in Charge Foundation Honors Missouri Lawmaker with April Lilburne Award

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:25:06 -0400

(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge Foundation, a national voter rights group dedicated to protecting the ballot initiative and referendum process, presented Missouri State Senator Jim Lembke with the April 2010 John Lilburne Award for sponsoring Senate Bill 818 and for all his work to make Missouri’s initiative process more open and accessible to the people.

National Voter Group Honors Missouri Lawmaker

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:50:31 -0400

New Interactive Tool Shows Effects of Proposed Missouri Law Changes

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:27:43 -0400

I’ve just completed an online interactive database of Missouri ballot measures from 1910 to 2008. The database allows you to see what measures have passed and failed, and search and sort for various scenarios. You can also generate a list of past ballot measures based on vote requirements you specify. This allows you to see the effect of various super-majority percentages.

Missouri: Downtown cameras approved by voters

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:51:33 -0400

Columbia voters have endorsed a plan to put in downtown surveillance cameras to address concerns about rising crime. Unofficial returns from Tuesday’s city election show that the initiative petition started by the mother of an assault victim won the support of 59 percent of voters. The ballot measure known as Proposition 1 won by a margin of more than 3,300 votes.

Read the story from KOAM TV