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02/10/25 Missouri Mondays - Make calls, submit testimony, DO SOMETHING to use your voice to protect voting rights, initiative petitions, election workers, gun safety, and more!


Citizens ask us to protect our initiative petition process and our Missouri constitution!
Citizens ask us to protect our initiative petition process and our Missouri constitution!

Welcome to Missouri Mondays!


It’s another busy week and so many ways to get involved! See events and call to action details below and also check out two great resources for this week’s actions:




Thanks for staying informed and participating in our democracy for a better Missouri for all! We can make a difference when we all DO SOMETHING! Help us spread the word by sharing this email and the link to sign up here: https://www.moactionalliance.com/signup



UPCOMING EVENTS / WAYS TO GET INVOLVED!


*MISSOURI VOTER PROTECTION COALITION (MOVPC) MEETING

MONDAY MORNINGS at 10AM

Online (Zoom)

To sign up text “MOVPC” to 66866 or register here: bit.ly/protectmovoters


Protecting the vote requires our continued attention! Join MOVPC Democracy Defenders across the state to learn how you can get involved with the fight to protect voting rights for all Missourians!


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MISSOURI VOTER PROTECTION COALITION (MOVPC)

Missouri Legislature (#MOLEG) Legislative Alert - Week of Feb 10

Take Action Now to #ProtectMOVoters

Missouri Voter Protection Advocates:


Missouri legislative committees will hold hearings and vote on several voting rights measures this week - including measures to limit fair ballot measures, and measures to protect election workers from harassment. 


Take ACTION to let lawmakers know they should #ProtectMOVoters.  


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LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS MO - CALLS TO ACTION AND LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN


The League of Women Voters of Missouri provides two excellent documents with an overview of a number of bills being heard in committee and detailed action steps you can take on issues of importance to you. 


Link to this week’s LWVMO Calls to Action for the week of Feb 10: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VbtJKVBHua-0r76-wNeQT1ulABmUEKbF/view


Link to LWVMO Legislative Bulletin for the week of Feb 10: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BRzYKdha5VlINI45qiGFxlxZq1vhpbRf/view

 


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TELL MISSOURI HOUSE ELECTIONS COMMITTEE TO REJECT ATTACKS ON INITIATIVE PETITIONS / BALLOT MEASURES AND VOTE NO ON HB 414 AND HB 684 


House Elections Committee

Public Hearing on HB 414, HB 684 (testimony allowed)

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025

8:00am

Missouri State Capitol

Jefferson City, MO

House Hearing Room 5


SUBMIT WITNESS TESTIMONY FOR HB 414 AND HB 684 ONLINE HERE: https://witness.house.mo.gov/Default.aspx?noticeid=10226


TESTIFY IN PERSON AT THE HEARING - SUBMIT WITNESS FORM HERE: https://witness.house.mo.gov/Default.aspx?noticeid=10226


HB 414 (Murphy) and HB 684 (Simmons) - prohibit courts from re-writing summary statements on legislatively referred constitutional amendments that a court has found deceptive or misleading.

  • If the official summary statement or ballot language approved by the General Assembly is challenged in court and the court determines that it is legally flawed, the General Assembly must rewrite the language.

  • If the General Assembly is not in Session at the time of the ruling, the Secretary of State will rewrite the language.

 

Talking Points: 

  • Increases politicization of ballot measure language and increases delays, preventing discussion on ballot measures. 

  • Allows SOS and legislature to stall signature gathering and certification of measures.

  • While these versions apply only to legislatively referred referendums, an amendment to the senate version of the bill would include citizen-led initiatives, which would give political actors near veto power to indefinitely draft biased or confusing language and block movement of citizen initiatives, indefinitely delaying the ability of citizens to gather signatures to get their measure on the ballot.

  • Violates separation of powers. Courts should have the ability to stop and correct illegal language that violates Missouri law.


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TELL YOUR MO SENATOR TO REJECT ATTACKS ON INITIATIVE PETITIONS AND VOTE NO ON SB22! 



The Missouri Senate will hold a perfection vote on Senate Committee Substitute/Senate Bill 22 TODAY Monday, Feb. 10 at 8:00am


 SCS/SB 22 (Brattin) - Initiative Petition Wording

  • The original bill would prohibit courts from re-writing summary statements on legislatively referred constitutional amendments.

  • The Committee Substitute (SCS SB 22) would include citizen initiative petitions as well. 

  • If the summary statement (the language voters see on their ballot)  is found to be deceptive, biased or misleading by a court, it can only be rewritten by the Secretary of State, unless the General Assembly, by passage of a concurrent resolution, passes a new summary statement prior to 8 weeks before the election.

  • Also increases word limit from 50 to 100 words.


Talking Points: 

  • Increases politicization of ballot measure language. 

  • Allows SOS and legislature to stall signature gathering and certification of measures.

  • Including citizen initiatives allows political actors to indefinitely draft biased or confusing language and block movement of citizen initiatives, which would give political actors near veto power to indefinitely draft biased or confusing language and block movement of citizen initiatives, indefinitely delaying the ability of citizens to gather signatures to get their measure on the ballot.

  • Violates separation of powers. Courts should have the ability to stop misleading language that violates Missouri law. 


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TAKE ACTION WITH MOMS DEMAND ACTION MISSOURI!


TELL THE SENATE TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE  TO VOTE NO ON SENATE BILLS SB 74 AND SB 147!  


Monday, February 10 at 2pm the Transportation, Infrastructure & Public Safety committee will have a hearing on SB 74 and SB 147. 


  • Senate Bill SB 74 will prevent localities from regulating open carry of firearms for non-Concealed Carry Weapon holders


  • Senate Bill SB 147 would expand Missouri's shoot first law 




Link to find contact information for the committee members here:  https://www.senate.mo.gov/Committees/CommitteeDetails/53



Attend the Senate hearing to testify in person Monday Feb 10 at 2pm at the MO Capitol in room SCR - 1 


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TELL THE SENATE JUDICIARY AND CIVIL AND CRIMINAL JURISPRUDENCE COMMITTEE TO VOTE NO ON SENATE BILL SB 198!


Wednesday, February 12 at 8am the Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee will have a hearing on SB 198. 


  • SB 198 would attempt to nullify all federal laws that are not specifically enumerated in the US Constitution


Link to find contact information for the committee members herehttps://www.senate.mo.gov/Committees/CommitteeDetails/39


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NATIONAL RESISTANCE ACTION


KC AREA


Join Blue Brookside & Demand MO Sen. Hawley Listen to his constituents

Thursday, Feb 13 (Meet same time every week on Thursday)

1:30 - 2:30

Sen. Josh Hawley Office

400 E 9th St

Kansas City, MO 64106

 

We are facing a crisis and we need all Members of Congress to fight back. Join your friends and neighbors in telling Senator Hawley that we expect his staff in KC to meet with us and listen to our concerns. Let's meet on Thursdays at 1:30 at his downtown office. 400 E 9th Street. We will meet on the sidewalk across the street from the Federal Building and walk in together.


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NATIONAL RESISTANCE ACTION FROM ANYWHERE


5 CALLS 


Make your voice heard. 5 Calls is the easiest and most effective way for U.S. constituents to make a political impact. We’re the team making advocacy accessible. 5 Calls makes it easy for you to reach your members of Congress and make your voice heard.


We research issues, write scripts that clearly articulate a progressive position, figure out the most influential decision-makers, and collect phone numbers for their offices.


All you have to do is call.  For more information:  https://5calls.org/


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MORE WAYS TO GET INVOLVED! ORGANIZATIONS NEED YOU! 


*Find additional events, resources, organizations that need your help here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SZqI3j4nv2N3ylrsLTYXHa60aNMC-a4GlXZyj08lmPw/edit?usp=sharing



MISSOURI VOTER RESOURCES 


Find your Current State Elected Officials and U.S. Elected Officials



Next election: April 2, 2025. Register to vote by March 6.

Check your registration on the MO Secretary of State website: https://voteroutreach.sos.mo.gov/portal/

Missouri Voter Protection Voter Eligibility & Registration Guidance:  https://www.movpc.org/missouri-voter-eligibility-and-registration

Do you have your voter ID? Approved forms of ID are listed below (your address does not need to match the address on the ID): 

  • A non-expired* Missouri driver or non-driver license;

  • A non-expired military ID, including a veteran's ID card;

  • A non-expired United States passport; or

  • Another photo ID issued by the United States or the state of Missouri, which is either not expired *or expired after November 8, 2022.

  • Voter ID cards issued by your county clerk, driver licenses from other states, and student IDs are no longer accepted as valid IDs to vote.


MISSOURI LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Week of Feb 3rd - 7th - MO House and Senate Dem Newletter Excerpts


HOUSE GOP MOVES TO NULLIFY PROTECTIONS FOR ABORTION RIGHTS

 

The House Children and Families Committee on Feb. 4 considered Republican legislation seeking to nullify the abortion rights protections Missouri voters added to the state constitution last year and instead impose tight restrictions on reproductive rights – without actually repealing the new constitutional provisions.

 

Voters ratified Amendment 3 in November to restore reproductive rights in Missouri after the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority eliminated the federal right to abortion in 2022. The new state constitutional protections declare that “reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted” absent a compelling state interest that is achieved by the least restrictive means.

 

The right to an abortion is now protected up to the point of fetal viability, which typically is around 24 weeks of gestation. The state could impose restrictions after that point, with exceptions if a medical professional deems an abortion necessary to “protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”

 

House Joint Resolution 54 would add a new provision to the Missouri Constitution that would supersede Amendment 3 and ban all abortions, with narrow exceptions in cases of medical emergency, fetal abnormality, rape or incest. However, whether many women would actually qualify for one of those exceptions is questionable.

 

The rape and incest exceptions, for example, would apply only up to 12 weeks of gestation and only if the offenses have been reported to police. And the purported exception for medical emergencies uses the same language included in a 2019 state law rendered unconstitutional by Amendment 3 that banned abortions in nearly all instances. That language was so vague it prompted some medical providers to refuse necessary care to women suffering severe pregnancy complications out of fear of being criminally prosecuted or losing their medical licenses.

 

In order to sell its abortion rights nullification provisions to voters, HJR 54 includes as so-called “ballot candy” an unrelated section banning gender-transition surgeries or other gender-affirming care from being performed on or provided to children. In the months leading up to the Amendment 3 vote, opponents centered their campaign on false claims that it would protect transgender rights, only to immediately abandon those claims once Amendment 3 was ratified.

 

Supporters of reproductive rights dominated the four-hour hearing on HJR 54, strongly opposing its attempts to effectively overturn the recent statewide vote. Only a handful of people testified in favor of the measure. If passed by both chambers of the Republican-controlled General Assembly, HJR 54 automatically would go on the November 2026 statewide ballot.

 

PANEL CONSIDERS MAKING TRANSGENDER RESTRICTIONS PERMANENT

 

For about eight hours on Feb. 3, scores of transgender Missourians and their families and supporters took turns telling their stories and asking members of a House committee not to approve legislation extending a pair of laws enacted two years ago suppressing their community. Despite their pleas, the panel’s Republican majority is expected to advance the bills as part of the party’s nationwide targeting of transgender people for political messaging purposes.

 

The laws the Republican-controlled General Assembly enacted in 2023 separately made it illegal to provide gender-affirming health care to transgender minors and prohibited transgender athletes from competing on a sports team – at any level from kindergarten through college – that doesn’t correspond with their birth gender. As part of a compromise to overcome Democratic resistance in the Senate, however, the restrictions in both bills are set to expire in 2027.

 

The House Emerging Issues Committee considered four identical bills to eliminate the sunset provision on the medical care prohibition, along with three identical bills to make the sports participation ban permanent. Only a half-dozen people testified in favor of the measures.

 

In an unexpected move two days after the House hearing, the Senate voted 22-8 to eliminate both sunset provisions. The vote came on an amendment to a larger bill to remove expiration dates from several other statutes. After the amendment was adopted, the Senate set aside the legislation, Senate Bill 10, without bringing it to a final vote.

 

Sponsors of the medical care ban legislation said it is intended to protect kids from decisions they might later regret, while continuing the restriction on sports participation is portrayed as needed to protect the integrity of girls’ athletics. Opponents derided both measures as political attacks aimed at dehumanizing transgender children.

 

Since the ban on gender-affirming care took effect, those services have been unavailable in Missouri, forcing some families with transgender children to relocate to other states where such care remains accessible.


MISSOURI MONDAYS NEWS SUPPLEMENT!


With so much important news each week we don’t want you to miss a thing! Check out our MISSOURI MONDAYS NEWS SUPPLEMENT here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wMmphHQfXS3af8AnxQ145XN9hEfv6RLmtS5XTv-XcFk/edit?usp=sharing



THANK YOU! for staying informed and taking action to make a difference!


Invite your friends and neighbors to join us and sign up for Missouri Action Alliance and this Missouri Mondays weekly email at bit.ly/3pF99Uw


Follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MOActionAlliance, on Bluesky @moaction.bsky.social, and check out our website at http://www.MOActionAlliance.com

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