Ballot Issue

An amendment banning abortion will go before Missouri voters in November, possibly alongside a referendum on the state's gerrymandered congressional map. But a proposal to expand sales taxes and eliminate the income tax will appear in the smaller-turnout August election.

People Not Politicians wants a judge to compel Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to either accept or reject the anti-redistricting ballot issue — and stop telling elections officials to implement a plan aimed at ousting Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.

In some respects, whether the Republican-controlled legislature succeeded in all of its goals isn’t known yet, because priorities like restricting abortion and ending the income tax must be decided by voters.

A Cole County judge is being asked to block the measure from the ballot or rewrite its summary for voters.

Backers of the Respect Missouri Voters initiative turned in roughly 350,000 signatures on Sunday to the Missouri secretary of state’s office. Lawmakers would be barred from changing or repealing voter-approved statutes or constitutional amendments, unless 80% of the legislature agrees to put the changes to another statewide vote.

Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe said he's ready to sell his plan to expand sales and use taxes, which would allow Missouri to end the income tax. Another ballot measure would repeal constitutional protections for abortion rights.

Kansas City has relied on the 1% earnings tax to pay for much of its budget since it was enacted in 1963. As voters begin to head to the polls, local leaders want them to renew it again.

If the measure passes, Kansas City will continue collecting a 63-year-old tax on wages, salaries and profits. If it fails, the city will be forced to find another source for hundreds of millions of dollars — or else make dramatic cuts.

The biggest tasks left are the state budget, where Gov. Mike Kehoe has proposed a number of spending reductions, and a Republican plan to eliminate the income tax.

Cole County Judge Brian Stumpe removed some of Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' phrases describing the old and new redistricting plans — calling them argumentative and "likely to create prejudice."

The November amendment would prohibit most abortions in the state, overturning a 2024 vote to protect abortion rights. But two-thirds of surveyed Missouri voters also say they support banning gender-affirming care for minors, which is also included in the ballot question.

A similar version of this bill was thrown out by the Missouri Supreme Court in January because of an unrelated item. Before it was struck down, that new process was put to the test over a proposed constitutional amendment to ban most abortions.