1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

I am writing to you in opposition to Senate Joint Resolutions designed to restrict the state's initiative petition rules in Missouri. Currently, petitioners must gather a number of signatures equivalent to 8% of all registered voters in Missouri to amend the state Constitution and 5% to create new laws. In both cases, signatures must be gathered from at least 2/3 of the state Congressional districts. These rules have served for initiatives submitted both by citizens and by the legislature from multiple political perspectives and parties for more than 100 years. There is no compelling reason to change them beyond the political preferences of the current majority party in the legislature. I oppose SJR 11, which increases signature gathering requirements to 15% for constitutional amendments and 10% for new laws. I oppose SJR 10 and SJR 30, which require both a majority of voters statewide AND a "majority of the votes cast in a majority of the state representative districts." No other statewide elections require such a double majority and would allow large numbers of Missouri voters to be disenfranchised by giving extra weight to voters in particular districts that vote against the majority. SJR 30 also includes language restricting foreign funding of initiatives, but this is already prohibited by the Missouri Constitution. I oppose SJR 47 which reiterates the dual majority requirements of SJR 10 and SJR 30, the foreign funding requirements of SJR 30, and an additional rule that any constitutional amendments that win even with the dual majority requirements be voided if foreign funding is later discovered. All of these rules increase the burden on regular citizens like me. The deck is already stacked in favor of the legislature in Missouri to overrule initiatives they do not like, such as the current effort to overturn Proposition A from the last election. When citizens raise money and spend time meeting all of the current requirements, it should not be as easy as it is for the legislature to undo all of that work. Likewise, with the deck already stacked in their favor, the legislature does not need to make it harder for regular citizens to get their initiatives on the ballot, as SJR 11 would, or to require more than the simple majority of voters statewide to pass those initiatives. Thank you for your service.