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Below, you'll find statewide ballot issues and St. Louis County ballot issues.
Statewide Amendments
Amendment 1 - Lobbying, Campaign Finance, and Redistricting Initiative
A broad, bi-partisan group has come together to form what is called Clean Missouri, the organization that is behind the effort to pass Amendment 1. Amendment 1 will make some very sweeping changes to attempt to rid the Missouri legislature of special or partisan interests. There are 3 main categories that it deals with: Lobbying, Campaign Finance and Redistricting.
Amendment 2 - Medical Marijuana and Veteran Healthcare Services Initiative
The first medical marijuana measure on the ballot is Amendment 2. Amendment 2 has been driven by the New Approach Missouri PAC which has raised over $1.06 million. The amendment would allow medical marijuana to be prescribed by licensed physicians if a patient has 1 or more of 9 qualifying conditions.
There would be a 4% sales tax on the retail sale of marijuana. Revenue would go to providing healthcare services, job training, housing assistance and other services for veterans. Amendment 2 would not allow local governments to ban dispensaries, but it would allow them to regulate the location of the facilities and their hours and manner of operations.
Amendment 2 is estimated to generate $24 million in state and local revenue and cost around $7 million.
Amendment 3 - Medical Marijuana and Biomedical Research and Drug Development Institute Initiative
Amendment 3 also deals with legalizing medical marijuana. The PAC behind the initiative, Find the Cures has raised $1.56 million in their effort to pass it. 99.99% of the money has come from one physician, Brad Bradshaw who started the PAC and wrote the text of the amendment.
Amendment 3 would first create a new government institution called the Biomedical Research and Drug Development Institute (BRDDI) which would oversee the state's marijuana program. Funds from the 15% tax on the retail sale of marijuana will go to the BRDDI which will be tasked with finding cures for cancer and other incurable diseases. The amendment is estimated to bring in state revenue of $66 million while costing just $500,000. This is because the cures that the BRDDI develops will be sold to generate income for the state. Cures will be available to Missouri residents at no charge.
There will be a new position created called the Article XIV Coordinator who will appoint the Board Members. The text of the amendment states that the first Article XIV Coordinator will be the amendment's creator - Brad Bradshaw - until such a time he sees fit to step down. After that, the Governor can then appoint the Article XIV Coordinator. Many opponents argue that this gives Bradshaw too much power. Bradshaw tried suing to get the other marijuana proposals thrown out of court, but his attempt was shot down in court in August.
Amendment 4 - Management and Advertisement of Bingo Games Amendment
Believe it or not, prior to 1980, bingo was illegal in Missouri. In November of that year, the state legislature referred to the ballot a constitutional amendment that would allow religious, charitable, fraternal, service or veteran organizations to conduct games of bingo.
Amendment 4 attempts to change 2 things in the language of the current law. It would lower the time required that someone is a member of an organization to manage a bingo game for that organization from 2 years to 6 months and it would remove the constitutional ban on organizations advertising their bingo games outside of their own premises.
The legislature has proposed these changes twice before - in 1990 and 2000. Both times, the voters of Missouri decided that the stakes were too high to change bingo laws. In 1990 it was defeated with 53% of the vote and in 2000 67% of voters voted no.
Statewide Propositions
Proposition B - $12 Minimum Wage Initiative
SUMMARY: WILL INCREASE STATE'S MINIMUM WAGE EACH YEAR UNTIL REACHING $12 IN 2023. AFTER THAT POINT, THE MINIMUM WAGE WILL INCREASE OR DECREASE BASED ON CHANGES IN THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX. HARD TO ESTIMATE POTENTIAL COSTS/SAVINGS - ESTIMATIONS RANGE FROM $2.9 MILLION DECREASE TO $214 MILLION INCREASE.
Proposition C - Medical Marijuana and Veterans Healthcare Services, Education, Drug Treatment, and Public Safety Initiative
SUMMARY: LEGALIZES MARIJUANA FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES; WILL TAX MARIJUANA AT 2%; TAX REVENUE WILL BE SPENT ON VETERANS' SERVICES, DRUG TREATMENT, EDUCATION, AND LAW ENFORCEMENT. ANNUAL COSTS ESTIMATED TO BE $10 MILLION. ANNUAL REVENUE ESTIMATED TO BE $10 MILLION.
Proposition C also legalizes marijuana for medical purposes with tax revenue going towards various services including for veterans and education. Out of 3 marijuana initiatives, Prop C has the lowest tax rate at 2%.
The reasoning behind submitting this as a proposition is because the authors believe that changes will need to be made as more is learned about regulating the marijuana industry in the future.
Proposition D - Gas Tax Increase, Olympic Prize Tax Exemption, and Traffic Reduction Fund Measure
SUMMARY: INCREASES GAS TAX BY 2.5 CENTS/GALLON A YEAR FOR THE NEXT 4 YEARS TO MAKE IT 27 CENTS A GALLON TOTAL BY 2022 WITH REVENUE GOING TO STATE HIGHWAY PATROL. EXEMPTS PRIZES FROM SPECIAL OLYMPICS, PARALYMPICS AND OLYMPICS FROM STATE TAXES. CREATES DEDICATED FUND FOR ROAD PROJECTS THAT REDUCE TRAFFIC BOTTLENECKS THAT AFFECT FREIGHT. ESTIMATED TO GENERATE $288 MILLION ANNUALLY FOR MO STATE HIGHWAY PATROL AND $123 MILLION FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE.
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