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Tag: rights

  • Release: Missouri workers to defend overwhelming victory of Proposition A

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    December 9, 2024
    Contact: Joni Wickham, joni@wickhamjames.com

    1,679,972 Missourians voted to raise the minimum wage and allow workers to earn paid sick time

    Workers across the state denounced a lawsuit filed by interest groups who are asking the courts to overturn the will of Missouri voters who passed Proposition A with 57% of the vote. 

    “This anti-democratic move is reprehensible,” said Marilyn McLeod, president, League of Women Voters of Missouri. “Missouri voters have spoken and this matter should be settled. These special interest groups could have raised their legal concerns at any other point in the process before the measure appeared on the ballot. The voters have overwhelmingly approved the measure. We are appalled that judges will be asked to overturn the wishes of the Missouri electorate, but we are confident that they will see that wages and benefits are clearly part of the same subject on compensation and will reject this lawsuit.”

    The Proposition A victory on Nov. 5 was the culmination of months of workers’ efforts to gather signatures and educate voters. After collecting 210,000 signatures from every county, the measure was certified for the ballot in August by the Missouri Secretary of State. The ballot measure garnered widespread grassroots support prior to Election Day, including from over 135 Missouri-based organizations and over 500 Missouri businesses.

    Terrence Wise, a longtime leader in Stand up KC, the Fight for $15 and current leader with the Missouri Workers Center reflected on the work to get here and his feelings on the underhanded attempt to undermine the election results.

    “Missouri’s working class, in lockstep with allies across the state, went to the ballot box on November 5 to overwhelmingly voice our need for paid sick days and fair wages in a free and fair election,” Wise said. “It’s sickening to me that corporations are trying to steal our victory away and quiet the will of the voters who made this win possible. It hurts our families and our communities and simply put, it’s un-American. With Prop A we have a chance for change and hope, and we will come together as low-wage workers and Missourians — Black, White, and Brown — to defend it.”

    Proposition A’s passage means beginning May 1, workers can earn up to 7 paid sick days per year. Additionally, the minimum wage will rise to $13.75 on Jan. 1, 2025, and $15 on Jan. 1, 2026. These interest groups, and our elected leaders, would be better off educating businesses and workers on how to comply with the new law rather than engage in frivolous lawsuits that are a distraction to building an economy that works for everyone.

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  • Missouri House continues assault on majority rule

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    Tuesday, March 12, 2024
    Contact: liz@progressmo.org

    Missourians are standing up to protect the essential principle of ‘one person, one vote’

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – As the House begins debate on SJR74 – the resolution that would upend the initiative petition process as Missourians have known it – Missourians across the state are pushing back on attempts to undermine majority rule.

    “I am dismayed that politicians in Jefferson City are attacking our deepest held democratic ideals by aggressively pushing forward changes to the initiative petition process despite overwhelming opposition to these changes voiced by Missourians like me,” said Beth Franklin, a U.S. Army veteran and Missouri native from Plattsburg. “SJR74 and initiatives like it could allow a small fraction of Missourians to overrule what the majority wants, ending 100 years of majority rule in Missouri. Politicians are intentionally tricking us into giving our rights away!”

    During the past several weeks, a bipartisan coalition of thousands of Missourians have voiced their opposition to attacks on the initiative petition process, many pointing out that the process already in place gives Missourians the power to make decisions about policies that impact them and their families.

    “I believe that any attempts to compromise majority rule in initiative petitions should be turned down,” said John Nekola, a horticulturist from St. Louis who collected signatures for an initiative petition in the 1980s. “Advocates from any point of view could be restricted from participation in the referendum process by requiring a supermajority. By allowing the voters to decide an issue that may not come up in the legislature, the initiative process is a vital part of democracy.”

    The initiative petition process gives Missourians the power to make decisions about issues that will impact them and their families. These proposed changes purposely make it harder for Missourians to have their voices heard.

    “The League of Women Voters believes responsible government should be responsive to the will of the people,” said Marilyn McLeod, President of the League of Women Voters of Missouri. “The citizen initiative petition is the most direct form of voter participation in our democracy. This valuable and trusted process has been enshrined in the Missouri Constitution for more than 100 years and has been used for both conservative and progressive issues. It is already a complicated and difficult process. Therefore, the League of Women Voters of Missouri opposes any attempts to make it more difficult to get a measure on the ballot or to raise the threshold for approval.”

    Progress Missouri is urging Missourians to let their legislator know they oppose these efforts to trick Missourians into giving their rights away.

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  • Under the Dome – March 1

    Under the Dome graphic with Missouri State Capitol Dome in background

    Welcome back to Under the Dome, your weekly update on the goings-on of the Missouri state legislature.

    Legislators spin wheels on legislation that would hurt their own constituents, file frivolous lawsuits

    This week seemed like an epic battle over control as legislators set their sights anywhere but where voters seem to need or want them.

    A House bill introduced by Rep. Jamie Ray Gragg, R-Ozark, would put teachers on the sex offender registry if they “contribute to the social transition of a trans youth,” including using their pronouns or expressing support for their gender expression through haircuts or clothes. That’s right – complimenting a kid’s outfit could mark you as a sex offender under the language of H.B. 2885.

    Defunding Planned Parenthood for work they don’t do

    Meanwhile, the Missouri House gave initial approval to legislation that would halt public funding, including Medicaid reimbursements, for any facilities and their affiliates that provide abortions. That would render Planned Parenthood without funding even though the organization doesn’t perform abortions in Missouri, as required by law. The legislation would curtail what the organization IS doing, such as providing essential reproductive health services like contraceptive access and cancer screenings, on which thousands of Missourians depend.

    Using doctored videos as “evidence”

    Unelected Attorney General Andrew Bailey piled this week on by filing a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood, using as evidence a staged, edited video from right-wing Project Veritas. The video from the conservative news organization founded in 2010 claims to show the illegal transport of teens out of state for abortions. Planned Parenthood maintains the “evidence” has been highly doctored and edited.

    Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, told the Missouri Independent that Bailey tweeted about the lawsuit before it was officially filed in the courthouse.

    “This is a press release dressed up as legal action from an unelected attorney general,” Wales said. “It is based on ‘evidence’ from fraudulent, extreme anti-abortion actors, who claim to be ‘journalists.’”

    KKK is in the GOP house

    Finally, this week the Riverfront Times broke a shameful story that a man with a history of “honorary” membership in the Klu Klux Klan not only managed to make it on the unofficial ballot to be the Republican nominee for Missouri governor but may even appear atop the official ballot when GOP voters vote in the primary this August.

    Those revelations came to light last night when former Missouri Representative Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin) tweeted out a screenshot showing the unofficial candidate filing list for Governor posted to the Secretary of State’s website. On it, Darrell Leon McClanahan III’s name sits atop more well-known GOP contenders like Mike Kehoe and Jay Ashcroft. 

  • Under the Dome – February 23

    Under the Dome graphic with Missouri State Capitol Dome in background

    Welcome back to Under the Dome, your weekly update on the goings-on of the Missouri state legislature.

    Majority rule under threat as resolution stripping voters of rights moves to House

    This week, the Missouri Senate moved forward legislation that would end majority rule in Missouri, taking away rights that Missourians have utilized for more than 100 years to keep legislators accountable and advance legislation favored by voters.

    Thanks to a strong pushback by key legislators, Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman’s SJR74 was stripped of “ballot candy.” The resolution now moves to the House for debate, where extreme politicians are threatening to return “ballot candy,” a blatant admission of resorting to trickery to steamroll their permanent plans to take voters’ rights.

    Coleman speaking about purposefully including “ballot candy” in SJR74 on the floor of the Missouri Senate, via Missouri Senate Communications video.

    The resolution approved in the Senate would require what’s called a concurrent majority, meaning that in addition to passing the entire state, any constitutional ballot issue would also need to be approved by a majority vote in five of the state’s eight congressional districts. According to an analysis from the Missouri Independent, as few as 23% of voters – a majority in the four districts with the lowest number of voters in 2020 and 2022 – could defeat a statewide ballot measure.

    The legislature continues to ignore public outcry to their plans to end majority rule, which has been overwhelming and bipartisan.

    Progress MO is calling on Missourians from all parts of the state to urgently contact their legislators to demand that they vote no on these efforts to dismantle majority rule and seize their rights in Missouri.

    Freedom Caucus members smear KC dad, spread fear and hate

    Denton Loudermill and his family in their neighborhood, via family photo shared with the Kansas City Star.

    This week also featured continued swamp creature behavior from the “Freedom” Caucus when members and the Caucus’s own social media channels were caught falsely accusing a KC dad of being a mass shooter and illegal immigrant.

    Three Missouri lawmakers shared posts with a photo of a man that claimed him as one of the suspects in the mass shooting, which killed one person and injured more than 20 people. The post not only smeared an innocent man but also falsely fueled illegal immigration fears.

    Asked for an apology, lawmakers instead doubled down. As reported in the Kansas City Star, Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville and chair of the hard-right Missouri Freedom Caucus, refused to apologize or even recognize that they did anything wrong.

    “I’m not even commenting on that,” Brattin told the Kansas City Star. “That’s not even part of the discussion.”

    When pressed, Brattin signaled that he didn’t think his false post was worth an apology.

    “There’s nothing that I even see – even worth that,” he said. “So we’ve done nothing. And, you know, I have no comment.”

    House Speaker under fire for yet another scandal

    Finally, this week the St. Louis Post-Dispatch exposed that so-called “lifelong conservative” Dean Plocher doubled his office’s payroll in the past five years while embroiled in a series of ongoing scandals.

    After firing two of his employees and watching as another resigned amid a midterm shake-up, the embattled House Speaker is overseeing an office payroll that could cost taxpayers double the amount it under then-Speaker Elijah Haahr in February 2020.

    According to payroll records provided by the House human resources office, the annual payroll for the speaker’s office as of Feb. 1 was $746,427, compared to $495,832 in his maiden year as the leader of the Legislature’s lower chamber.

  • RELEASE: Senate advances plan to end majority rule

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    Monday, February 19, 2024
    Contact: liz@progressmo.org

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Progress MO released the following statement today regarding the perfection vote of SJR74, the radical proposal to end majority rule in Missouri: 

    “Make no mistake: this proposal from politicians would end majority rule in Missouri — taking away rights we have held dear for more than 100 years. We are confident voters will see this power grab by politicians for what it is, and will reject it.”

    Public outcry to politicians’ plans to end majority rule has been overwhelming and bipartisan.

    Progress MO is calling on Missourians from all parts of the state to urgently contact their legislators to demand that they vote no on these efforts to dismantle majority rule and seize their rights in Missouri.

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  • RELEASE: Senate extremists celebrate Presidents Day by trying again to end majority rule

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    Monday, February 19, 2024
    Contact: liz@progressmo.org

    “There absolutely is ballot candy” to deceive voters about the true goals of the measure, admitted Senate sponsor

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Despite overwhelming testimony against changing how Missourians can bring issues important to them to the ballot, the Missouri Senate today continued discussions about undermining the initiative petition process.

    “Ending majority rule would be a dramatic step backwards for Missouri,” said Marilyn McLeod, President of the League of Women Voters of Missouri. “If passed, it would shred our constitution, ending 100 years of majority rule in Missouri, and taking away your right to decide what happens here. We need to protect our freedom to determine our future in Missouri, not permanently change our constitution to give up our rights. Simple majority rule is common sense and already the law of the land in Missouri.”

    If passed, SJR74 would end majority rule in Missouri, potentially requiring more than 70% of a statewide vote for any constitutional amendment to pass. Just last week, sponsoring Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman admitted her proposal to end majority rule on constitutional amendments is loaded with “ballot candy,” politician-speak for deception.

    “There absolutely is ballot candy,” Coleman said of her proposal to end majority rule on constitutional amendments in Missouri.

    Special interests and lobbyists are pushing this constitutional amendment because they can’t control citizens the way they control corrupt politicians. If they destroy our constitution to get rid of ballot initiatives as we know them in Missouri, it will mean more power for special interests and less power for voters to decide on the issues that matter the most. That’s why politicians are trying to add illegal “ballot candy” to mislead voters about what this amendment would do: shred the constitution to end majority rule in Missouri.

    “While many Americans celebrated Presidents Day by honoring our presidents and commitment to democracy, these extreme Jefferson City politicians decided to attack majority rule and our very system of government,” said Liz McCune, Executive Director of Progress Missouri. “This proposal from politicians is so brazenly contradictory to long-held Missouri values, like majority rule, that they know they must trick voters to get it done.”

    During the past several weeks, a bipartisan coalition of thousands of Missourians have voiced their opposition to attacks on the initiative petition process, many pointing out that the process already in place gives Missourians the power to make decisions about policies that impact them and their families.

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  • Under the Dome – Gun Violence Culpability and Majority Rule

    Under the Dome graphic with Missouri State Capitol Dome in background

    Welcome back to Under the Dome, your weekly update on the goings-on of the Missouri state legislature.

    Extremist politicians take a break from lying about majority rule to lie about gun violence culpability

    Missouri politicians took a mid-week break from dismantling democracy as we know it to celebrate Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs. When violence broke out in downtown KC – leaving one dead and at least 23 shot – they then doubled down that guns are not the problem in Missouri – instead blaming “thugs.”

    The problem? You can dehumanize someone by calling them a “thug,” but those thugs can still get guns and conceal them with ease.

    As reported in the Kansas City Star, Missouri law allows people to carry concealed weapons without a permit. In recent years, lawmakers have lowered the age to have a concealed weapon to 19. And cities and counties are severely restrained in their power to set their own firearms regulations.

    Before even getting to prayers and casseroles, Sen. Bill Eigel, a Weldon Springs Republican, said “liberal gun grabbers” would not prevail. “NOT IN MISSOURI,” he wrote. Thankfully for the rest of us, MISSOURI DOES NOT BELONG TO BILL EIGEL. It belongs to the people of this state, and we can unite to demand sensible gun laws that could make tragedies like occurred Wednesday less likely to happen.

    Ballot candy = blatant trickery

    Meanwhile, Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman gave initiative petition supporters the gift that keeps giving when she said out loud a truth that most politicians would keep quiet: she conceded that “there is absolutely ballot candy” in her resolution to end majority rule in Missouri and strip citizens of their rights.

    Her resolution was criticized on the Senate floor for using “ballot candy” to attract voters because it also asks voters to forbid foreign citizens from voting in U.S. elections, SOMETHING ALREADY FORBIDDEN.

    As shared with ABC17, everyone knows why this resolution is loaded with ballot candy. Missourians hate these plans to end majority rule. Politicians are going to try every trick they can to distract and confuse us from their real agenda.Efforts stalled on moving Coleman’s measure forward, but the debate will continue next week. How does her resolution end majority rule? An analysis of voting patterns by The Missouri Independent shows that using congressional districts for the concurrent majority requirement means as few as 23% of voters could defeat a measure that has otherwise overwhelming support. That is half the vote in four of the state’s eight congressional districts.

    Make your voice heard

    Over 1,300 Missourians have already written their legislators demanding that they block SJR74 and any other attempts to end majority rule. Add your voice to demand that they protect “one person, one vote” in Missouri!

  • RELEASE: Senator admits resolution is loaded with ‘ballot candy’

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    Monday, February 12, 2024
    Contact: liz@progressmo.org

    Politicians scheme to trick voters into giving away rights, end 100 years of majority rule

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman today admitted “There absolutely is ballot candy,” in SJR74, the politician’s proposal to end majority rule on constitutional amendments in Missouri.

    Politicians began discussing the resolution that would dismantle democracy as Missourians have known it for over 100 years. SJR74, as currently constructed, would end majority rule in Missouri, potentially requiring more than 70% of a statewide vote for any constitutional amendment to pass.

    “Everyone knows why this resolution is loaded with ballot candy,” said Liz McCune, Executive Director of Progress Missouri. “Missourians hate these plans to end majority rule. Politicians are going to try every trick they can to distract and confuse us from their real agenda.”

    During the past several weeks, thousands of Missourians voiced their opposition to attacks on the initiative petition process, many pointing out that the process already in place gives Missourians the power to make decisions about policies that impact them and their families.

    Missourians are urged to let their legislator know they oppose these efforts to trick Missourians into giving their rights away and making it harder for votes to count.

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  • Under the Dome – Hundreds Rally For Majority Rule

    Under the Dome graphic with Missouri State Capitol Dome in background

    Welcome back to Under the Dome, your weekly update on the goings-on of the Missouri state legislature.

    Missourians Support Majority Rule

    Hundreds of Missourians from across the state and political spectrum rallied in the Capitol Rotunda in Jefferson City on Tuesday as part of Missouri Voting Rights Lobby Day. They sent a clear message to politicians regarding proposed changes to the initiative petition process: Don’t end majority rule in Missouri. 

    Supporting “one person, one vote,” advocates gathered for the non-partisan event to urge lawmakers to reject efforts to undermine Missouri’s citizen initiative process.

    Jean Dugan, Executive Director of League of Women Voters, visited with House lawmakers and expressed her dissent for the initiative petition reform bills. She told KOMU-TV that the current process is a time-tested policy that does not need to be changed. 

    “It’s been around since 1907 and we like it,” Dugan said. “It gives every person in our state a voice in our state government, that we think is really valuable.”

    Dugan, with other representatives of organizations and unions, tasked over 150 people with going door to door in the Capitol to talk to lawmakers about shutting down initiative petition bills. 

    “The important thing is that they know our concerns,” Dugan said. “Initiative petitions protect Missouri’s democracy.”

    Following a rally in the rotunda, participants visited with their legislators and packed the Senate floor to demand that they protect the initiative petition process. 

    Opposition to radical plans from politicians to end majority rule in Missouri is strong, bipartisan and broad. Those testifying against altering the 100+ year standard of majority rule outnumbered those who want to strip Missourians of their rights by 95%. Testimony heard included:

    • HJR 86: 4 support, 117 opposed
    • HJR 76: 6 supporters, 119 opposed
    • HJR 119: 6 support, 115 opposed
    • Totals: 16 support, 351 opposed

    “These politicians are the ‘snake oil salesmen’ of old Westerns. Don’t buy it. They are ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing,’” said Jim Kabell, former President of the Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska Conference of Teamsters. “They know you support majority rule, so they’re trying to hoodwink voters into giving their rights away. We are not going to let them get away with that.”

    Progress Missouri has made it easy for you to tell your legislator you will not be tricked into giving your rights away – more than 500 Missourians have already done so.

  • RELEASE: Politicians Want To Rig The Rules To End Majority Rule In Missouri

    Jefferson City, MO, state capitol building

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    Tuesday, January 23, 2024
    Contact: liz@progressmo.org

    Missourians are standing up to protect the principle of ‘one person, one vote’

    COLUMBIA, Mo. – On the precipice of the first hearing to dismantle democracy as Missourians have known it for over 100 years, concerned Missourians are pushing back on attempts to undermine the initiative petition process.

    By changing the rules for constitutional amendments, politicians want to change the rules so that a small minority of Missourians can veto any statewide proposal.

    “The League of Women Voters believes responsible government should be responsive to the will of the people,” said Marilyn McLeod, President of the League of Women Voters of Missouri. “The citizen initiative petition is the most direct form of voter participation in our democracy. This valuable and trusted process has been enshrined in the Missouri Constitution for more than 100 years and has been used for both conservative and progressive issues. It is already a complicated and difficult process. Therefore, the League of Women Voters of Missouri opposes any attempts to make it more difficult to get a measure on the ballot or to raise the threshold for approval.”

    Progress Missouri is urging Missourians to let their legislator know they oppose these efforts to trick Missourians into giving their rights away.

    Dozens of bills have been filed this session that would chip away at the initiative petition process; the House Elections and Elected Officials Committee is scheduled to take up multiple bills at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, in House Hearing Room 6. Missourians from across the state are planning to attend to voice their opposition to the proposal.

    The initiative petition process gives Missourians the power to make decisions about politics that will impact them and their families. Within the past decade alone, the process has been used for things such as changing state law to expand health care access; protecting citizens from unreasonable search and seizure of electronic records; and ensuring the right of Missourians and pray and worship on public property. These proposed changes make it harder for Missourians to have their voices heard.

    “The initiative petition process allows Missourians to participate directly in our democracy,” said Liz McCune, Executive Director of Progress Missouri. “When out-of-touch politicians in Jeff City ignore what voters and their families want, Missourians can take a stand and push for change directly. The process is an integral part of Missouri’s democracy.”

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