Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe is not ruling out putting statewide ballot initiatives in the August primary instead of the November general election.
As of Tuesday, Missourians are slated to vote on five measures in November. They include proposals to:
- Repeal constitutional protections for abortion rights that voters backed in 2024.
- Allow the legislature to expand sales and use taxes as a way to eliminate the state's income tax.
- Make it much harder for constitutional amendments put on the ballot through initiative petition to pass.
- Renew a sales tax that helps pay for state parks and state conservation efforts.
- Make the Jackson County assessor an elected position.
Kehoe has until May 22 to move any of those ballot items. While it is possible for him to move it to any date, including a special election, governors who have used this power typically shifted proposed ballot measures to the August primary, which usually has lower turnout.
"We're looking at what that's all going to look like," Kehoe told reporters in Hazelwood on Tuesday.
It's unclear whether moving those initiatives would make them more likely to pass. In 2020, Gov. Mike Parson moved a proposal to expand Medicaid to August, and it passed 53.3% to 46.7%. And after the legislature moved a referendum on right-to-work legislation to August 2018, voters overwhelmingly repealed that law.
It's not out of the question that Missouri lawmakers could refer even more constitutional amendments to the ballot, including a measure that would authorize work requirements for Medicaid recipients.
Gearing up for a fight
Kehoe made eliminating the state's income tax a cornerstone of his legislative agenda. The plan that lawmakers approved is somewhat complex. It would create a five-year window for lawmakers to expand certain taxes, like sales taxes, to make up for the income tax being phased out. But lawmakers would have to lower the income tax – it would not go down automatically based on revenue growth.
Asked if the plan could be too difficult for voters to understand, Kehoe said he plans to keep the message simple.
"Nine billion a year comes out of their pocket and goes to the government. We're proposing that they keep that money and make the decisions on how they spend that," said Kehoe, referring to the amount of money the income tax brings in every year.
Kehoe has said he would not support expanding the sales tax to agriculture, health care or real estate. But given that there are no specific carveouts in the amendment, it would be up to Kehoe and the legislature to prevent those types of expansions.
And despite the assurances, at least one powerful group with experience participating in ballot initiatives – the Missouri Association of Realtors – testified against the tax plan earlier this year. Another group whose members could be affected by the tax, the Missouri Bar, also came out against the plan.
"Increasing revenue via a sales or service tax could adversely impact Missourians and quickly become an access to justice issue," said Missouri Bar lobbyist Andy Briscoe in written testimony. "Public defenders, who provide criminal defense to indigent defendants, would now be compelled to tax the services they provide to impoverished defendants. Similarly, Legal Aid groups that provide civil counsel to indigent litigants would now be compelled to charge a tax to their clients – who could ill afford it."
Kehoe said he wasn't concerned – or surprised – about the potential organized opposition to the tax plan.
"Anytime you have a campaign issue, you've got to assume there's somebody who doesn't like it," Kehoe said. "What that organization will look like, I don't know. But we'll do our best to make sure Missourians understand the benefits to them and their family."
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