The “Liberal District Veto” Doesn’t Match Missouri History
Opponents of Amendment 4 have a new warning for Conservatives: one Liberal congressional district could someday block a Conservative citizen amendment.
Their favorite example is the 2016 sales tax cap, which barred new state or local sales and use taxes on services and transactions that were not taxed as of January 1, 2015.
Their Example Proves Our Point
The 2016 sales tax cap was not a broad Conservative grassroots uprising. It was backed by the Missouri Association of REALTORS to put a tax protection for themselves in the Missouri Constitution.
It also wasn’t their first time using the Constitution for tax policy. Missouri and national Realtor groups helped pass the 2010 constitutional ban on real estate transfer taxes.
Now, Missouri REALTORS are spending big to protect the same system. They gave $2 million to oppose Amendment 4, after giving $1,900,001 to oppose Amendment 5.
They’re an industry lobby.
Their job is to protect their industry.
Sometimes their interests line up with Conservatives. Sometimes they don’t.
On Amendment 4, they are defending a process they have already used for themselves, not conservative principles or conservative policy.
Their favorite example does not prove that Conservatives depend on the initiative process. It just proves that powerful interests use the initiative process to protect themselves.
Missouri History Runs the Other Way
The Realtors want Conservatives to imagine a hypothetical future Conservative amendment getting blocked by one Liberal district.
We don’t have to imagine the left using Missouri’s constitutional initiative process. It’s been happening for years.
Recent citizen-initiated constitutional amendments have included marijuana legalization, unregulated abortion, sports betting, and the Clean Missouri redistricting scheme.
The reason they focus on the 2016 sales tax cap?
It’s the only one that could be plausibly construed as Conservative.
Missouri’s constitutional initiative process has been used more often by progressive coalitions and well-funded interests than by Conservative grassroots campaigns to pass broad constitutional reforms. Liberals and their special-interest allies know they have a structural advantage in Missouri’s Initiative Petition process because of how it tips the scales toward big money interests.
Amendment 4 brings balance and fairness back to the system.
Conservatives Still Have the Normal Tools of Self-Government
Amendment 4 does not give one Liberal district the ability to stop Conservative policy.
The legislature can still pass statutes. Missouri Republicans hold all elected statewide offices and supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature.
It’s worth pointing out the obvious: we vote for our representatives, and they are accountable to us in a way that industry lobbies like the Missouri Association of Realtors are not.
When constitutional changes are needed, our representatives retain the ability to refer amendments to the ballot that can be approved with a simple majority vote.
Why the different standard? Because it’s a different process.
Besides the fact that Missouri voters are able to engage with their representatives and be represented in the crafting of the legislation, it’s not possible to pass a bill without broad geographic support.
Just ask representatives from St. Louis and Kansas City how many bills they can get passed by themselves.
Amendment 4 applies only to initiative petitions to amend the Constitution.
The statutory initiative process remains untouched.
Liberals and industry lobbies want to debate Amendment 4 on speculation about what policies might or might not be adopted as a result of its passage.
They ignore the basic good governance argument for Amendment 4.
If a policy can be passed as law, it usually should be passed as law. Not every tax preference, regulatory change, or policy goal belongs in the State Constitution forever.
Opponents of Amendment 4 want you to believe that citizen-initiated constitutional amendments are the only way to achieve Conservative policy goals.
Citizen-initiated constitutional amendments aren’t even a good way to get Conservative policy done.
The Real Threat Is Not Hypothetical
Opponents want Conservatives to worry about a hypothetical Liberal district veto someday.
Meanwhile, certification for the Respect MO Voters initiative petition is happening now.
The campaign, led by Clean Missouri leaders and ranked-choice voting advocates, submitted about 360,000 signatures for a November 2026 initiative to protect the current initiative system.
The proposal would bar lawmakers from changing or repealing voter-approved measures unless 80 percent of both the House and Senate vote to send the change back to voters.
Conveniently, Democrats hold around 30% in the Missouri House and Senate.
The Respect MO Voters petition would guarantee Liberal activist groups and industry lobbies the structural advantages they enjoy now, and make it impossible to change their amendments after they pass.
This is the real Liberal veto that Conservatives should be worried about.
With that system in place, Kansas City and St. Louis Liberals really could pass amendments by themselves, so long as they find enough money to pay for signatures and TV ads.
The threat of this passing under the current initiative petition rules is real, unlike a hypothetical Conservative initiative petition.
Amendment 4 Fixes the Right Problem
Amendment 4 requires broad support before a campaign can rewrite the Missouri Constitution.
If a proposal is important enough for the Constitution, it should be strong enough to win statewide and across every congressional district, without foreign funding, and without petition fraud.
The Realtors’ 2016 example proves too much. It proves Missouri’s Constitution has been too easy for powerful interests to rewrite.
Conservatives should not trade a real threat in November for a hypothetical.
Vote Yes on Amendment 4.
Andy Bakker
Executive Director
Liberty Alliance USA