Initiative petition reform still in limbo with one day left in legislative session

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Lawmakers have less than one working day left to get their final priorities across the finish line before the end of the legislative session.

Constitutionally, the Missouri General Assembly has to adjourn for the year at 6 p.m. Friday. All bills not passed by that time are dead.

Several party priorities are still waiting to cross that finish line, one of those being initiative petition reform. After a 50-hour filibuster Wednesday , Missouri senators decided to ask the Missouri House of Representatives to either give up its position or conference with the Senate to come to a compromise. The House decided Thursday afternoon to send its bill back to the Senate, unchanged.

It wasn't immediately clear how the Senate leadership would respond with a little more than 24 left to pass identical bills.

Initiative petition reform would make it more difficult for Missourians to make changes to the state constitution through petitions. If passed, Missourians would have to vote on whether to implement the changes.

The bill in question would raise the number of votes needed to pass an initiative petition from a simple majority to a majority of voters plus majorities in five out of eight of the congressional districts. Critics say that could lead to a small minority of rural voters deciding elections, diluting the voting power of people in urban areas.

The difference between the House and Senate versions of initiative petition reform is a part of the bill that's been dubbed "ballot candy." It asks voters whether it should be illegal for non-U.S. citizens to vote in Missouri elections. This "candy" supposedly aims to attract voters. It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote.

Some other pieces of legislation put on the back-burner include a bill that would have Medicaid cover hearing aids, a bill that would clarify some points on the senior property tax breaks for seniors and a tax credit for child care providers.

Rep. David Tyson Smith's bill that aimed to deter catalytic converter thefts is one victims of infighting and record-breaking filibusters in the senate.

"I had a catalytic converter, a bill that passed the house, but it stalled in the senate," Smith said. "I wanted to crack down on the thefts of catalytic converters. I'm pleased that passed the house, but it's still sitting over there."

A bill Rep. Cheri Toalson Reisch hoped would clarify the senior property tax freezes has not seen the finish line yet either.

"I'm still collecting signatures to put it on the November ballot in the event that the capitol can't get anything done," Toalson Reisch said.

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