Lawmakers think Missouri voters are ignorant. Are they?

Dec 23, 2024

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they try to bury us / they try to sweep us under
they try to silence us / they try to scare us with thunder
but after thunder / comes the rain / and after rain / comes the pain
and from that pain / a seed will grow
taller than the sky / and stronger than you know
we are still here, yes and we are stronger than fear
Violet and the Undercurrents. “Still Here.” The Captain, 2019

Republicans in Missouri are notorious for saying that “voters just didn’t know what they were voting for”when trying to explain the election outcome of ballot initiatives. Following the November election, on This Week in Missouri Politics, host Scott Faughn put the question with three newly elected members of the Missouri Senate (two Republicans and one Democrat): “Are voters smart enough to vote for Republican candidates but not smart enough when it comes to ballot questions?”

Republican Kurtis Gregory of Saline County recounted a discussion he recently had with a woman who said she was pro-life but voted for Missouri’s Amendment 3, which restores the right to abortion up to the point of fetal viability. She wanted women like her daughter to have the ability to have an abortion in cases of a troubled pregnancy. He used this as proof that the woman was obviously ignorant of Missouri’s strict abortion statute, which permits abortion (at least on paper) to save the life of the mother (but not in cases of rape or incest). The problem was, according to Gregory, that she was just another uninformed voter who needed him to explain how his political party would protect the lives of women, even though they were taking away women’s freedom to make healthcare decisions about their bodies.

But tell that to Mylissa Farmer, of Joplin, Missouri, who was told by doctors at two hospitals, in Missouri and Kansas, that her fetus would not survive and that she was at risk of severe infection or losing her uterus. Neither hospital would agree to terminate the pregnancy, citing the states’ abortion bans, even with its sole exception to save the mother’s life. Hundreds of other women have faced these same dangers because doctors and hospitals delay or deny certain care in fear of facing prosecution under the current law. Their stories have been all over the news and, unfortunately, have become more commonplace in communities nationwide.

Democrat Maggie Nurrenbern had a different take on the voters in her district during her Senate campaign. She repeatedly emphasized during her campaign that if they cared about restoring women’s healthcare freedoms in the state, they had to vote for a candidate who would pledge to make that result a reality. In Gregory’s case, the woman he spoke with, more likely than not, knew precisely what she was voting for. And so did over a million and a half other voters throughout Missouri.

Once again, Missouri voters have approved ballot measures, yet they have also elected lawmakers determined to undermine, overturn, or block those measures. This contradiction frustrates the Missouri electorate, leaving them to question whether their voices truly matter in the political landscape. However, it's crucial to remember that voter rights are the cornerstone of our democracy, and every vote counts.

Republican lawmakers are adept at gaslighting voters, convincing them that only a lawmaker can adequately understand and vet legislation. When Missourians voted to outlaw inhumane puppy mills, the legislature brought them back. When citizens voted to expand healthcare benefits to low-income workers under Medicaid, the legislature refused to fund it. After voters approved a new system of drawing voting districts under Clean Missouri, the legislature put it back on the ballot again and tricked voters into overturning what they had just approved using deceptive and misleading tactics, a clear disrespect for voter decisions.

In the November 5 election, voters also passed the Healthy Families Initiative, or Proposition A, which would increase the minimum wage and require employers to pay earned sick leave. If fully implemented, this initiative could significantly improve the financial stability of low-income families, offering a ray of hope in these challenging times.

However, powerful business groups in the state, led by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, have filed a lawsuit asking the Missouri Supreme Court to overturn the election results, which 58% of voters statewide approved. The basis of the lawsuit claims that Prop A violated constitutional rules on ballot initiatives, even though those rules could have been challenged long before the election. But even if the Supreme Court upholds the law, Republican lawmakers have already filed bills that would significantly delay or reduce the wage and sick pay benefits approved by voters under Prop A. Because Proposition A changed state law but not the state constitution, lawmakers could overturn or change portions without voter approval.

And yet, if Republicans undermine or dilute the benefits of Prop A, they’ll likely be hurting many of the people who just voted them into office. As we saw in this recent election, despite national statistics that generally paint a picture of a robust economy, polls showed that most people believed the economy today is worse than in the last presidential election in 2020. And when you drill down past the stock market and GDP economic data, you’ll also find that the number of households living paycheck to paycheck has increased since 2020 to an astonishing 66% of households. This potential harm to the voters should be a cause for concern and a call to action for all Missourians, underscoring the need for voter vigilance and action.

Making earned sick leave mandatory for all employers could be a significant stride toward assisting families on the brink of a potential financial crisis. For individuals forced to miss work due to illness or to care for a sick child, the loss of income could mean the difference between making a mortgage or rent payment or putting food on the table for their families. Prop A is a beacon of hope for these families.

While there has been some improvement in workers’ wages since the pandemic, they have been slow to keep up with inflation, leading to housing, food, and transportation insecurity for many low-to-mid-income earners. After increasing the minimum wage to $15, Prop A would then index yearly changes in the minimum wage to inflation, so presumably, low-income workers’ pay would keep up with future increases in goods and services. Plus, it has the added benefit of reducing the need for the legislature to re-visit the minimum wage in coming years.

Already, the vote to approve Amendment 3 to overturn one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country has prompted Missouri Republicans to file legislation to undermine or reverse the will of the voters to restore abortion rights in the state. Like Clean Missouri, at least eleven bills have been filed in the upcoming legislative session to place the issue back on the ballot to try and reverse the November 5 result.

So, did Missouri voters understand what they voted for on November 5? Did they vote against their self-interest? Why are ballot initiative campaigns for progressive issues able to persuade voters, but progressive candidate campaigns are not?

Twenty-plus years of one party’s monopoly on power without competition yields bad results for citizens. The Missouri legislature convenes again in early January for its 2025 regular session that runs through May. Will things be different this time, and lawmakers pay more attention to their constituents than their tribe? History tells us, don’t count on it.

https://enr.sos.mo.gov/

https://missouriindependent.com/2024/07/31/missouri-woman-sues-university-of-kansas-hospital-emergency-abortion/

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https://www.mec.mo.gov/CampaignFinanceReports/Generator.aspx?Keys=B2G41dEVPKgI8cDcdGFsgJsm99XwPL2G56i9goUSwvWBz8CLPl2T7vHQ81cYcQd1qShRTIaJzZF1Z86%2f%2b3Yd%2bWECgr3ezGUv

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https://www.mec.mo.gov/CampaignFinanceReports/Generator.aspx?Keys=B2G41dEVPKgI8cDcdGFsgJsm99XwPL2G8hB6yd5lMLU7fo5xU6Hu1ETfDF%2f6cKYnVOJ33Qh3yiZKIZ3VntU5NpNmXcCxNcXz