KMOV: Missouri House to resurrect ‘ballot candy’ provisions in IP resolution

The resolution has been heavily criticized by pro-democracy groups, including organizations like Show Me Integrity and Conservatives Against Corruption.

“I oppose SJR 74 and any efforts to make it harder for Missourians to exercise our Constitutional freedom of the citizen initiative process,” said Fred Steinbach, former mayor of Chesterfield and finance director for former Gov. John Ashcroft. “In 1992, my former boss Governor Ashcroft vetoed similar attacks on the citizen initiative process. The then-Democratic majority was attacking the will of the people, and trying to make the initiative process more difficult, because the Democrats were bitter that conservatives had been using the citizen initiative, including to pass the Hancock Amendment with only 55% of the vote.”

In Gov. Ashcroft’s 1992 veto statement, he said, “the General Assembly should be reluctant…to enact legislation which places any impediments on the initiative power which are inconsistent with the reservation found in the Constitution.”

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