Legislative Update: May 10, 2022
by the Rev. Dr. Theresa Mithen Danieley,
Priest Associate, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, St. Louis
and Champions Organizer for Missouri Jobs with Justice
The focus in these last few days of the Missouri Legislative Session, as it was at the Lobby Day last week, is on protecting Voting Rights and the grassroots Initiative Petition Process. Please act now to oppose changes to the ballot initiative process. Call your Missouri State Senator and ask them to protect the Initiative Petition Process - and vote no on HJR79 - and let me know how it goes. Email me at [email protected] or call/text me at 314-503-7415. In these final days & hours, we’re keeping up the pressure and making sure our elected leaders know where we stand.
- Here is the Missouri Senate Legislator Lookup.
Initiative Petition Defense: HJR79 sits on the informal calendar and could be called up at any time in the Senate. HJR 79 and bills like it only have one goal - to make it harder for voters to propose and pass ballot initiatives that reflect our values. Missouri’s initiative petition process has served our state for 115 years and allows us to build a democracy that reflects the will of Missouri voters. The legislature should follow the will of the people instead of attempting to grab power by limiting our ability to make decisions for ourselves.
Oppose More Repressive Voter ID: On Monday, May 9, the Missouri Senate passed HB1878 - the latest attempt to require a government issued photo ID to vote. There are several other dangerous provisions in this bill related to the false narrative that the 2020 election was stolen or fraudulent and that could threaten election integrity for years to come. HB1878 will now return to the House for a vote, or for a conference committee to work out the differences. Contact your State Representatives and ask them to oppose HB1878! Here is the Missouri House Legislator Lookup. The Missouri Voter Protection Coalition lays out the bad in HB1878 here:
Here are very detailed analyses of legislation that could still be acted upon as we enter the final few days of Session from Missouri Jobs with Justice, the Missouri Equity Education Partnership, and PROMO (LGBTQ Advocacy).
Here are additional resources from the Episcopal Public Policy Network on Expanding Voter Access.
