MO Votes! | Missouri Ballot Initiatives for 2022 Midterm Ballot Explained

Co-Hosts: Adam Sommer, Rachel Parker

Guest: Reece Ellis

https://heartlandpod.com/

Sign Up  at Heartland POD  Patreon For Extras!

“”Change The Conversation.”

All Ballot Measures: https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/petitions/2022BallotMeasures\

Amendment 1: This one comes to us FROM the Missouri general assembly, in other words Republicans wanted to put this on in order to add it to the constitution. 

The question: Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

• allow the General Assembly to override the current constitutional restrictions of state investments by the state treasurer; and
• allow state investments in municipal securities possessing one of the top five highest long term ratings or the highest short term rating?

This basically shifts greater discretion to the State Treasurer to make decisions on how to invest money. It COULD have a monetary benefit to the state of a couple million dollars, but that is not a guarantee. The reality here is that there is a huge push by the GOP to end what they call “woke” investments - basically divest all public money from anything that looks like green energy or touches a company that might be friendly to equity and equal rights. 

This one is an EASY NO for me, we don’t need this change. It’s a political move - not a public benefit move. Just another way for the GOP to fight a culture war that they have invented. 

Current Text of Constitution in question: https://ballotpedia.org/Article_IV,_Missouri_Constitution#:~:text=Section%2015,-Text%20of%20Section&text=The%20state%20treasurer%20shall%20be,by%20the%20department%20of%20revenue.

Proposed Change: https://house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills211/hlrbillspdf/0587H.03T.pdf

Amendment 4:  this one is really simple - yet again we have the missouri GOP majority trying to take over local control wherever they can to keep democrats from having any say in policy - Amendment 4 would change a current provision of law that requires the city of Kansas City to provide 20% of its city budget to the city policy department by requiring that be a 25% allocation. Why? Because the KC City counsel, a local government body made up of locally elected official took money from the budget and that made people made. It’s really that simple. Republicans from hours away want to tell the folks in KC how to spend their money. Another very easy NO vote for me. 

Amendment 5: This amendment moves the control of the national guard into amore direct line from the Governor’s office. I’ve seen democrats opposed to this one, I’ve also talked to folks involved with the national guard and overall this amendment seems to make Missouri’s set up similar to nearly every other state - I understand the argument from some Democrats that this is just a political power move here, I’m not so sure that argument holds water. That being said, I’m also not sure I see the point of this amendment OTHER than to give the Governor more power. And for that reason alone, Im a NO vote on amendment 5, but I’m not sure in the end it truly matters which way this goes. 

Constitutional Convention: Missouri law requires that every 20 years the voters have a chance to vote to have a constitutional convention. The law provides for procedures and, in reality, would be quite a show. It would be interesting, but unlikely to be worth much. Even IF the convention came up with proposals, all of those proposals would then have to go to the voters for ratification. I’ve seen a handful of Dems pushing this issue as a chance to use the ballot box for issues - in a reliance that MO voters continue our streak of supporting more progressive measures when they are not tied to a political party - but I think that is a drastic miscalculation of how the parties will interact with proposed amendments. I’m a  NO  on this one. 

Amendment 3:

Perfect or good? https://empowermissouri.org/amendment-3/

Reece Ellis very smart thread on twitter: https://twitter.com/TheReeceEllis/status/1587421773624229892

Emerson college pollWhen it comes to Missouri Amendment 3, legalizing the recreatiooters-back-marijuana-legalization-ballot-initiative-in-new-poll-but-support-is-tightening-a-week-before-election-day/nal use of marijuana, 47% of the respondents plan to support the measure. Meanwhile, 39% plan to oppose it, and 14% are still unsure.

https://emersoncollegepolling.com/missouri-2022-republican-eric-schmitt-maintains-double-digit-lead-over-democrat-trudy-busch-valentine/

Summary Articles:

https://missouriindependent.com/2022/11/01/st-louis-mayor-tishaura-jones-announces-opposition-to-missouri-marijuana-amendment/

https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2022-11-02/missouri-amendment-3-legalize-marijuana-recreational-pot-cannabis-election-2022

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/missouri-v

Host: Adam Sommer 

Find Adam on tik-tok and bluesky as "midmapdadenergy" - follow The Process on instagram. 

JOIN PATREON FOR MORE 

“Change The Conversation”

Outro Song: “The World Is On Fire” by American Aquarium 

http://www.americanaquarium.com/

Nothing on this channel is to be taken as legal advice for any jurisdiction. All statements are opinions that reflect on that of the speaker and the purpose of the show is to provide space for discussion that may include statements or opinions shared only for the purpose of discussion.