St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “GOP bid to make it harder to amend Missouri constitution draws conservative opposition”

“JEFFERSON CITY — A week after the Missouri House advanced a plan to make it harder for voters to change Missouri’s constitution, a Senate panel took up the issue Monday as one of its top priorities for 2023.

But while the matter has been pushed by Republicans who control all the levers of state government, not all conservatives are in favor of the various plans.

Fred Steinbach, state finance director under former Republican Gov. John Ashcroft and the first mayor of Chesterfield, said the Legislature should reject the proposed changes.

‘In 1992, my former boss John Ashcroft vetoed similar attacks on the process,’ Steinbach said.

At the time, Democrats were pushing to make it harder for voters to approve amendments after the passage of the Hancock Amendment, which has guided state tax policy for three decades.

Others called the citizen-led petition process is a “sacred and trusted constitutional right.”

‘It gives voters the freedom to determine the laws that govern us and serves as a fundamental check and balance on the Legislature,’ said former Sen. Bob Johnson, R-Lee’s Summit.

The Missouri Realtors Association opposes the changes and has signaled it will mount a campaign to defeat any proposals if they make it to the ballot.”

Read the full story from St. Louis Post-Dispatch here.