St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Missouri House Republicans approve 57% threshold for constitutional amendments”

“House legislators forwarded the constitutional amendment plan to the Senate on a 107-55 vote, with four Republicans opposing the measure and all Democrats voting against it.

Proponents have said constitutional amendments should enjoy wide support, while opponents have described the legislation as an anti-democratic power grab by a Legislature at odds with the public on certain issues.

Former House Speaker Pro Tem Carl Bearden, R-St. Charles, working with Republicans opposed to the changes, urged GOP senators to block the higher threshold in the legislative session’s final days.

‘The initiative process is a power and freedom that we the people have reserved to ourselves as a check on and to be independent of the General Assembly,” Bearden said, adding the plan “directly infringes upon the constitutional freedoms of Missouri citizens. It is not a conservative policy.’”

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