Associated Press: “Missouri lawmakers fail to raise bar to amend constitution”

“Democrats and some Republican former lawmakers have criticized the push to make it harder to amend the constitution as an attempt to take power away from voters, who in recent years have flouted the Republican-led legislature by enacting policies through ballot measures.

Former Republican House Speaker Pro Tem Carl Bearden said the initiative petition process is meant to be a ‘check on’ the legislature. He said the effort to make it more difficult ‘directly infringes upon the Constitutional freedoms of Missouri citizens.’

‘It is not a conservative policy,’ Bearden said in a statement.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press here.