Nov 5, 2024 Presidential Election

US President: Trump & Vance

The other option is, legitimately, communism-lite

Ballot Measures

Ballotpedia explains that there are two primary origins of a ballot measure:

  • citizen-initiated: people collect signatures to place an issue on the ballot
  • legislative: legislators vote to place a statute or constitutional amendment on the ballot

Amendment 2: Sports Wagering

(Petition # 2024-160)

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

  • allow the Missouri Gaming Commission to regulate licensed sports wagering including online sports betting, gambling boats, professional sports betting districts and mobile licenses to sports betting operators;
  • restrict sports betting to individuals physically located in the state and over the age of 21;
  • allow license fees prescribed by the Commission and a 10% wagering tax on revenues received to be appropriated for education after expenses incurred by the Commission and required funding of the Compulsive Gambling Prevention Fund; and
  • allow for the general assembly to enact laws consistent with this amendment?

State governmental entities estimate onetime costs of $660,000, ongoing annual costs of at least $5.2 million, and initial license fee revenue of $11.75 million. Because the proposal allows for deductions against sports gaming revenues, they estimate unknown tax revenue ranging from $0 to $28.9 million annually. Local governments estimate unknown revenue.

A "yes" vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to permit licensed sports wagering regulated by the Missouri Gaming Commission and restrict sports betting to individuals physically located in the state and over the age of 21. The amendment includes a 10% wagering tax on revenues received to be appropriated for educational institutions in Missouri.

A "no" vote will not amend the Missouri Constitution regarding licensed regulated sports wagering.

If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.

I'm not opposed to gambling but I don't do it, myself. However, I don't think we should disallow others from choosing to do so.

Amendment 3: "The Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative"

(Petition # 2024-086)

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

  • establish a right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, with any governmental interference of that right presumed invalid;
  • remove Missouri’s ban on abortion;
  • allow regulation of reproductive health care to improve or maintain the health of the patient;
  • require the government not to discriminate, in government programs, funding, and other activities, against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care; and
  • allow abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman?

State governmental entities estimate no costs or savings, but unknown impact. Local governmental entities estimate costs of at least $51,000 annually in reduced tax revenues. Opponents estimate a potentially significant loss to state revenue.

A “yes” vote will enshrine the right to abortion at any time of a pregnancy in the Missouri Constitution. Additionally, it will prohibit any regulation of abortion, including regulations designed to protect women undergoing abortions and prohibit any civil or criminal recourse against anyone who performs an abortion and hurts or kills the pregnant women.

A “no” vote will continue the statutory prohibition of abortion in Missouri.

If passed, this measure may reduce local taxes while the impact to state taxes is unknown.

If this is approved by voters it would legalize abortion up until the point of fetal viability, an undefined period of time generally seen as the point in which the fetus could survive outside the womb on its own, generally around 24 weeks!

Please, vote NO and ask, plead, beg your friends, family, and co-workers to do the same.

Amendment 6: Preserve funding of law enforcement

(SJR71)

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to preserve funding of law enforcement personnel for the administration of justice?

State and local governmental entities estimate an unknown fiscal impact.

A “yes” vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to levy costs and fees to support salaries and benefits for current and former sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys, and circuit attorneys to ensure all Missourians have access to the courts of justice.

A “no” vote will not amend the Missouri Constitution to levy costs and fees related to current or former sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys and circuit attorneys.

If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.

As YesFor6.com states: Amendment 6 supports the resumption of a $3 court fee that was established in state statute in 1983 for the creation of the Missouri Sheriffs’ Retirement System. This is NOT a new tax or levy. It is simply a court fee for those who are found guilty of a crime in the state of Missouri.

In 2015, a lawsuit was brought against the retirement system stating the $3 court fee was unconstitutional. The lawyer was able to establish a class action lawsuit in the process. We lost the case in the lower court but won the appeal. The plaintiffs appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, and we lost. The opinion stated that the retired sheriffs had nothing to do with the administration of justice, and therefore the fee was unconstitutional.

After the loss, we asked the legislature to let the people define the administration of justice as salary and benefits for sheriffs, prosecutors, and retired sheriffs and prosecutors. If they agree, we will be able to again collect the $3 that has been in state statute since 1983 and has fully funded our retirement system.

As stated in an kcur.org article:

If it fails, the Missouri Sheriffs’ Retirement System predicts that its fund will be insolvent within nine years, said Melissa Lorts, executive director.

“We feel like the $3 fee is really a user fee of the court system,” Lorts said.

Sheriffs are responsible for bringing defendants to the courthouse from the jail, and they administer warrants and manage other aspects of a criminal case, she said.

“So we have a heavy hand in what happens in the court system,” Lorts said.

More than 200 former sheriffs or their surviving spouses currently receive benefits, Lorts said.

The amendment traces back to two speeding tickets in Kansas City and the state supreme court ruling that followed.

Two men admitted to the traffic violations in 2017, ultimately paying a total of $223.50 in fines and fees to the city’s municipal court.

But the men later argued that they didn’t realize that $3 from each case would go toward the sheriffs’ retirement benefits.

The two men led a class action filed with Jackson County Circuit Court, arguing that the extra charge was “unjust enrichment,” a violation of the state constitution.

The case continued to wind through the courts until the Missouri Supreme Court ruled for the plaintiffs in 2021, Lorts said.

The court’s decision cited a 1986 ruling, noting that it laid down “a bright-line rule” barring court fees that benefit executive officials that are not “reasonably related to the expense of the administration of justice.”

The ruling in the traffic case cost the retirement system about $9 million in court costs and settlements and ended its ability to collect the money, Lorts said.

In December 2023, the fund had $38.4 million in assets, a drop of $800,000 from the end of the previous calendar year, according to the Missouri Sheriffs’ Retirement System annual report.

Beginning in January 2024, active sheriffs began contributing 5% of their salaries to the retirement fund, a change instituted by the legislature.

The legislature also approved $2.5 million to help stabilize the fund, an amount that has been requested again in the coming fiscal year, Lorts said.

Amendment 7: Require Citizenship to Vote and Prohibit Rank-Choice Voting

(SJR78)

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:

  • Make the Constitution consistent with state law by only allowing citizens of the United States to vote;
  • Prohibit the ranking of candidates by limiting voters to a single vote per candidate or issue; and
  • Require the plurality winner of a political party primary to be the single candidate at a general election?

State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings.

A “yes” vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to specify that only United States citizens are entitled to vote, voters shall only have a single vote for each candidate or issue, restrict any type of ranking of candidates for a particular office and require the person receiving the greatest number of votes at the primary election as a party candidate for an office shall be the only candidate for that party at the general election, and require the person receiving the greatest number of votes for each office at the general election shall be declared the winner. This provision does not apply to any nonpartisan municipal election held in a city that had an ordinance in effect as of November 5, 2024, that requires a preliminary election at which more than one candidate advances to a subsequent election.

A “no” vote will not amend the Missouri Constitution to make any changes to how voters vote in primary and general elections.

If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.

Reasons will be published here

Proposition A: Minimum Wage & Earned Paid Sick Time

(Petition # 2024-038)

Do you want to amend Missouri law to:

  • increase minimum wage January 1, 2025 to $13.75 per hour, increasing $1.25 per hour each year until 2026, when the minimum wage would be $15.00 per hour;
  • adjust minimum wage based on changes in the Consumer Price Index each January beginning in 2027;
  • require all employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every thirty hours worked;
  • allow the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to provide oversight and enforcement; and
  • exempt governmental entities, political subdivisions, school districts and education institutions?

State governmental entities estimate one-time costs ranging from $0 to $53,000, and ongoing costs ranging from $0 to at least $256,000 per year by 2027. State and local government tax revenue could change by an unknown annual amount depending on business decisions.

A “yes” vote will amend Missouri statutes to increase the state minimum wage beginning January 1, 2025 to $13.75 per hour and increase the hourly rate $1.25, to $15.00 per hour beginning January 2026. Annually the minimum wage will be adjusted based on the Consumer Price Index. The law will require employers with fifteen or more employees to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every thirty hours worked. The amendment will exempt governmental entities, political subdivisions, school districts and education institutions from the minimum wage increase.

A “no” vote will not amend Missouri law to make changes to the state minimum wage law.

If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.

This will only continue to hurt our economy as it only fuels more inflation and reduce lawful employment.

MO State Candidate Races

Each party winner, from the August primary, will be in the general election

Governor

  • Republican: Mike Kehoe
  • Democrat: Crystal Quade
  • Libertarian: Bill Slantz

Lieutenant Governor

  • Republican: Dave Wasinger
  • Democrat: Richard Brown
  • Libertarian: Ken Iverson

Secretary of State

  • Republican: Denny Hoskins
  • Democrat: Barbara Phifer
  • Libertarian: Carl Herman Freese

State Treasurer

  • Republican: Vivek Malek
  • Democrat: Mark Osmack
  • Libertarian: John A. Hartwig, Jr

Attorney General

  • Republican: Andrew Bailey
  • Democrat: Elad Jonathan Gross
  • Libertarian: Ryan L. Munro

MO local races

D29 State Senator

  • Republican: Mike Moon
  • Democrat: Ron Monnig

D140 State Rep

  • Republican: Jamie Ray Gragg
  • Democrat: Julia Curran