EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 79
101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
3408S.03C ADRIANE D. CROUSE, Secretary
JOINT RESOLUTION
Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri, an amendment repealing section 50 of article III of
the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting one new section in lieu thereof relating to
the process for amending the law.
Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring therein:
That at the next general election to be held in the 1
state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday 2
in November, 2022, or at a special election to be called by 3
the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to 4
the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or 5
rejection, the following amendment to article III of the 6
Constitution of the state of Missouri:7
Section A. Section 50, article III, Constitution of 1
Missouri, is repealed and one new section adopted in lieu 2
thereof, to be known as section 50, to read as follows:3
Section 50. 1. Initiative petitions proposing 1
amendments to the constitution shall be signed by [eight] 2
ten percent of the legal voters , registered to vote in 3
Missouri and citizens of the Un ited States, in each of [two- 4
thirds of] the congressional districts in the state, and 5
petitions proposing laws shall be signed by five percent of 6
such voters. Every such petition shall be filed with the 7
secretary of state not less than six months befo re the 8
election and shall contain an enacting clause and the full 9 SCS HCS HJR 79 2
text of the measure. Voters in each congressional district 10
shall have the opportunity to review and comment upon all 11
initiative petitions proposing amendments to the 12
constitution following the filing of the petition with the 13
secretary of state and not less than fifteen days before the 14
measure appears on the ballot. Such review and comment 15
process shall be administered by the secretary of state in a 16
public forum. Petitions for constitutional amendments shall 17
not contain more than one amended and revised article of 18
this constitution, or one new article which shall not 19
contain more than one subject and matters properly connected 20
therewith, and the enacting clause thereof shall be "Be it 21
resolved by the people of the state of Missouri that the 22
Constitution be amended:". Petitions for laws shall contain 23
not more than one subject which shall be expressed clearly 24
in the title, and the enacting clause thereof shall be "Be 25
it enacted by the people of the state of Missouri:". For 26
purposes of this article, only citizens of the United States 27
of America who are residents of the State of Missouri and 28
who are properly registered to vote in the State of Missouri 29
shall be considered le gal voters. 30
2. Notwithstanding Section 2(b) of Article XII of this 31
Constitution, or any other provisions of this Constitution 32
or laws to the contrary, if two -thirds of the votes cast 33
thereon are in favor of any constitutional amendment, 34
whether proposed by the general assembly or by initiative, 35
the same shall take effect at the end of thirty days after 36
the election. This subsection shall only apply to 37
constitutional amendments submitted to the people after 38
January 1, 2023. 39
Section B. Under chapter 116, RSMo, and other 1
applicable constitutional provisions and laws of this state 2 SCS HCS HJR 79 3
allowing the general assembly to adopt ballot language for 3
the submission of a joint resolution to the voters of this 4
state, the official ballot title of the amendment proposed 5
in Section A shall be as follows: 6
"Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: 7
● Allow only citizens of the United States to 8
qualify as legal voters; 9
● Require initiative petitions proposing to 10
amend the constitution to be reviewed by the 11
voters in each congressional district; and 12
● Require initiative amendments to the 13
constitution be approved by a two -thirds vote?". 14