The decision to keep the controversial ethics reform amendment, known as Clean Missouri, on the November ballot won praise from supporters. But not all local lawmakers were pleased.
A Kansas City appellate court Friday reversed a lower court’s earlier decision to remove Amendment 1 from the ballot. As it stands now Missouri voters will get to decide if it passes. The Clean Missouri initiative first made it onto November’s ticket by way of voter petition. Its language is broad and includes these provisions:
- Redrawing voter districts to increase partisan competitiveness;
- Lower campaign contributions;
- Limit lobbyist gifts;
- Expand the amount of time a former lawmaker must be out of office before registering as a lobbyist;
- Make public legislative records.
Earlier this month, a Cole County judge had ruled that the sweeping aims of Clean Missouri violated the constitution and struck it down from the ballot.
State Rep. Martha Stevens, D-Columbia, said that was an attempt to circumvent the will of the electorate.
“This was a last ditch effort from special interests to try to take away the voice of the people who want ethics reform. They want a comprehensive ethics package. I think this ballot initiative delivers that,” Stevens said. “The General Assembly has failed to pass anything substantial so voters came together and organized. I’m really pleased with the outcome,” Stevens added, emphasizing Clean Missouri as a measure with bi-partisan support.
But Rep. Sarah Walsh, a Republican from Ashland, said she disagrees.
She framed Amendment 1 as a product of the far-left agenda that will fracture voter representation in urban and rural districts and ultimately breed more gerrymandering.
“It’s going to completely hurt the urban vote and rural vote, because you’re going to have to reach into an urban area to try to make a rural district 50/50 – Republican and Democrat, and you’ll have to do the same in the urban areas. So you could have someone representing a district that’s not from the area,” Walsh said.
She said she’s been campaigning against Clean Missouri ahead of the election.
“It’s a huge concern and it’s essentially being billed as stopping gerrymandering, when in essence it’s going to be the exact definition of creating gerrymandering,” Walsh said.
With just a little more than a month to go before the election, the proposed ethics reform law remains in the hands of Missouri voters.