An earlier post noted that bills are pending in both houses of the Missouri legislature to make it more difficult for initiatives to get on the ballot. As noted earlier, HB 228 and SB 115 are identical bills that outlaw out-of-state circulators, forbid paying circulators on a per-person basis, and require circulators to work only one petition at at time.

In addition to those bills, HJR3 would boost the number of signatures needed to get an initiative on the ballot, from 8% of the last gubernatorial vote (for a state Constitutional change) and 5% (for a statute), to, respectively, 10% and 8%. In addition, HJR4 would say that initiatives need to receive 60% of the popular vote in order to pass.

If the legislature passes HJR3 or HJR4, they would then be placed on the ballot for a popular vote, since they amend sections of the Missouri Constitution dealing with initiatives. HJ3 and HJR4 are both sponsored by Rep. J. C. Kuessner.