HCSHBs684&414--CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
SPONSOR: Simmons
COMMITTEEACTION:Voted"DoPasswithHCS"bytheStanding
CommitteeonElectionsbyavoteof7to2with1membervoting
present.
ThefollowingisasummaryoftheHouseCommitteeSubstituteforHB
684.
Thisbillprovidesthatacourtdoesnothavetheauthoritytoedit
thesummarystatementorballotlanguageofanyballotmeasure
proposedbytheGeneralAssembly.
Ifthesummarystatementorballotlanguageischallengedincourt
andfoundtobelegallyflawed,theGeneralAssemblymustrewrite
thestatement. IfthisrulingismadeatatimewhentheGeneral
Assemblyisnotinsession,theSecretaryofStatewillrewritethe
statement.
Thisbillchangesthewordlimitforsummarystatementsofmeasures
referredtothepeoplebytheGeneralAssemblyfrom50wordsto100
words,excludingarticles.
Currently,summarystatementsforinitiativepetitionsarelimited
to100words.Thisbillexcludesarticlesfromthat100word
limit.
Thefollowingisasummaryofthepublictestimonyfromthe
committeehearing. Thetestimonywasbasedontheintroduced
versionofthebill.
PROPONENTS: SupporterssaythattheGeneralAssembly,notthe
courts,oughttohavethesoleauthoritytowriteballotlanguage
formeasurestheGeneralAssemblyreferstothepeople.Courts
cannotchangelanguageinabill,butrathercanonlyupholdor
strikedownalaw,theyshouldn'thavetheauthoritytomodify
ballotlanguageproposedaspartofabill.Itisappropriate,if
theGeneralAssemblyisnotinSession,todesignateastatewide
electedofficialtofulfillthisduty.WhethertheGeneral
AssemblyortheSecretaryofStatewritesthesummarystatement,
theofficialsinvolvedareaccountabletovoters,unlikejudges.
TestifyinginpersonforthebillwereRepresentative Simmons;
CampaignLifeMissouri;MissouriRightToLife. OPPONENTS: Thosewhoopposethebillsaythatitisthe
responsibility ofthecourtstocheckthepoweroftheothertwo
branchesofgovernmentwhentheyengageinbehaviorthatviolates
thelaw.Thelawrequiresthesummarystatementtobefairand
impartial;tosendaflawedstatementbacktothebodythatbroke
thelawwhendraftingitthrowstheseparationofpowersonits
headandwouldallowforunlimiteddelay.Takingthisabilityaway
fromthecourtswouldfurtherpoliticizetheinitiativepetition
process. Thefactthatthecourtsaren'telectedmakesthema
betterarbitratorforthesepoliticaldisagreements.
TestifyinginpersonagainstthebillwereDeniseLieberman,
MissouriVoterProtectionCoalition;AmericanCivilLibertiesUnion
ofMissouri;AbortionActionMissouri;MarilynMcleod,Leagueof
WomenVotersofMissouri;JobsWithJusticeVoterAction;Tara
Hallmark;ArnieDienoff.
Writtentestimonyhasbeensubmittedforthisbill.Thefull
writtentestimonyandwitnessestestifyingonlinecanbefound
underTestimonyonthebillpageontheHousewebsite.