Over fifty individuals gathered at a public library, each taking turns explaining their purpose for being there on folding chairs.
The loss of the ability to vote has left me quite distressed, one lady stated.
“I am enraged, and I intend to channel my wrath in a way that safeguards my rights,” the subsequent lady proclaimed.
“I am utterly perplexed by their ability to pull this off,” another voiced.
The citizen activists, many of whom had never met before, banded together just two days after the Missouri House passed a bill to nullify a ballot initiative that had been supported by the voters and had promised paid sick leave and minimum wage hikes proportional to cost of living.
There was a lack of concentration on how to prevent the Senate from following suit. Rather, the group’s overarching goal was to ensure that the Legislature could never again overturn the will of the people.
The battle for paid sick leave in Missouri
Legislators in several states are locked in a power struggle with their constituents as Republican President Donald Trump exercises expansive executive orders that challenge the Constitution’s division of powers.
Republican legislators in Missouri are planning to roll back portions of a new amendment protecting abortion rights, make it harder for voters to pass future constitutional amendments, and roll back the workers’ benefits bill that was adopted by voters in November.
Legislators from Missouri have done this before. Their past actions include attempting to obstruct funds for a Medicaid expansion that voters authorized, as well as writing amendments to legislation that voters passed regulating dog breeders and parliamentary redistricting.
Opponents are facing resistance from irate citizen groups. In an effort to gather signatures for a constitutional amendment that would restrict the power of the legislature to prohibit citizen initiatives, they are hosting town hall meetings all around the state in the year 2026.
Presenter Lindsay Browning informed the crowd that, “Our goal is to ban politicians from attacking the will of the people” during a recent Saturday event at the Missouri River Regional Library, which is located just steps away from the state Capitol.
Republican state representative Mitch Boggs made a parental comparison two days ago while he was arguing with his colleagues about the need to ignore voters’ wishes for paid sick leave and yearly minimum wage hikes.
It was, of course, approved by the voters. Asking your adolescent whether he wanted a checkbook is a good analogy. Boggs predicted that they would always vote in favor of it. Yet “there won’t be a job to go to in order to get a minimum wage” unless we safeguard our companies.
Legislators in Nebraska are also thinking about finding loopholes in the minimum wage and paid sick leave regulations that the voters passed.
hundred pieces of legislation that limit citizen initiatives
Approximately half of the states have initiative petition processes that enable individuals to put proposed legislation or constitutional changes on the ballot. Activists have utilized that procedure to pass initiatives that legislators were hesitant to adopt, like as legalizing recreational marijuana, increasing the minimum wage, expanding Medicaid, and enshrining abortion rights in state constitutions.
It has been attempted by some legislators to make it more difficult to have initiatives placed on the ballot and for voters to approve them.
It would “make it more difficult for citizen-led initiatives to succeed,” according to Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, executive director of the progressive ballot initiative group the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which is keeping tabs on about 100 proposals in 18 states.
The proliferation of such measures is “an indictment of our representative democracy,” according to Kelly Hall, executive director of The Fairness Project, another progressive organization that has supported 43 state ballot initiatives since 2016.
One Idaho Republican this year sought to provide the governor veto authority over initiatives passed by the people with a majority vote but a minority vote. A House committee would not move on with the measure.
However, legislation has previously been approved in another state. One of the measures that Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law was a requirement for initiative canvassers to ensure that petition signers have read the whole ballot title and provided picture identification.
This month, lawmakers in Utah decided to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot for 2026. If passed, the proposal would make future tax increases or decreases subject to a 60% approval threshold. The people of Arizona barely passed a proposal somewhat similar to this one in 2022.
Restrictions are being considered by South Dakota
Legislators in South Dakota, the state that started the initiative movement in 1898, have approved multiple bills to limit how citizens can initiate ballot initiatives. Getting people to sign a petition would take less time if one did this. In addition to the present statewide barrier, another would make it so that a constitutional amendment must have a minimum number of signatures from each of the 35 state Senate districts in order to be eligible for the ballot.
An further ballot initiative scheduled for 2026 would replace the current simple majority requirement for enacting constitutional changes with a 60% barrier.
Requiring 60% support for new taxes and multimillion-dollar expenditure initiatives was a legislative proposal that South Dakota voters rejected in 2022. A Medicaid expansion referendum was supported by 56% of the voters in the same year.
This year, legislators put a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot that would terminate the expanded Medicaid program if the federal government doesn’t maintain a cost-sharing commitment of at least 90%.
The Republican-controlled legislature brought attention to the fact that three-quarters of the states must agree in order to modify the United States Constitution. In addition, they claimed that entities from outside the state had funded “radical agenda” activities, referencing open primaries and abortion rights measures that were rejected earlier this year.
While speaking during discussion, South Dakota state senator Sue Peterson emphasized the need to safeguard the constitution against the fleeting political power and capriciousness of a small majority.