By Jason Hancock | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning.
Missouri voters are being asked in August to change the rules for changing the state constitution.
Right now, citizen-led amendments pass if they win a statewide majority. Amendment 4 would add another test: they would also have to win in each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts.
How would that play out in the real world?
In 2016, Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment blocking new sales taxes on most services. It won nearly 57% statewide.
Under Amendment 4, that wouldn’t have been enough.
Today, I look at why that tax cap would have failed — and what the same rule would have meant for every citizen-led constitutional amendment Missouri voters have approved since 2020.
(Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)
by Jason Hancock
A 2016 tax-limit amendment won Missouri by more than 375,000 votes. But under Amendment 4’s district-by-district rule, the St. Louis-area would have blocked it.
(Vaughn Wheat/The Beacon)
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A development tool that helped remake downtown Kansas City is poised for a comeback, with expanded rules that could shape the Royals’ stadium push.
(Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)
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The executive order is the latest step taken by Trump to assert control over state-run elections which would require voters to provide documents proving their citizenship.
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