Following the overwhelming defeat of Amendments 4 and 5 Tuesday, Missouri Republican House leaders said they will rethink how to approach tax cuts and making it harder to amend the state constitution.
Rep. Alex Riley, R-Springfield, who is expected to become House speaker when legislators return in January, said he was not surprised to see both amendments fail.
With Amendment 5, Riley said what he and a lot of other Republicans heard from constituents was there was support for eliminating the income tax, but not for this proposal.
"Too many unanswered questions, I think was the bottom-line problem for this particular amendment," Riley said.
He also said Amendment 4 suffered a similar fate.
"We have a lot of folks around the state who I think recognize that raising the threshold to change our state constitution makes a lot of sense and is something that we need to do," Riley said. "But again, they didn't like this particular idea. They thought it was too aggressive."
Even though voters rejected both amendments in every county in the state, that doesn't mean the issues are settled.
In a statement issued after Amendment 5's loss, Gov. Mike Kehoe said he remained "committed to working with the General Assembly in the years ahead on ways to continue cutting taxes, growing our state's economy, and pursuing conservative policies that help Missouri families keep more of what they earn."
Riley echoed those comments and said Republicans run on cutting taxes.
"I think for us, what we're going to have to do is go back to the drawing board a little bit, take a look at the feedback that the voters gave us, and come up with a different path that delivers meaningful tax cuts and tax relief," Riley said.
He said that relief is going to be a priority for the caucus, highlighting personal property and property taxes as focus points.
Riley also said there needs to be more work, including with constituents, on what can be done on income taxes.
"I think until something like that happens, it's going to be a little bit challenging to do something big in the income tax space," Riley said.
House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, said she hopes Republicans pivot away from income tax cuts and focus on different tax relief, especially property taxes.
"We keep hearing from voters that's the relief they're looking for. So I certainly hope that the Republicans renew their sights on property tax reform because Missourians across the state are clamoring for it," Aune said.
The failure of Amendment 4 has not closed the door on this issue for Republicans.
Kehoe, who has been in Panama on a trade mission since the primary, said in a statement after the vote Tuesday: "I will continue working to fight for election integrity, transparency, and a system that does not allow our Constitution to be up for sale."
Riley said there are Missourians across the state who believe in raising the threshold to change the state's constitution.
"This was a solution that was brought before the voters that they could consider, that they could take a look at, and they said we clearly don't like this idea. Fair enough," Riley said.
While Riley said the issue isn't settled, it may be a while before lawmakers take it up again.
"It was probably 15 years of fighting about initiative petition reform before this question was even able to get through the legislature and make it to the ballot," Riley said. "I think there would be a lot of internal discussions within the legislature that needs to happen first before a new proposal would be put together."
He said of the two issues, tax cuts are more of a priority.
Democrats hope to carry momentum to November
Some Democrats believe the failure of Amendments 4 and 5 gives them an opportunity to flip seats in November.
Missouri House Democrats have posted on their website how representatives voted on putting Amendments 4 and 5 on the ballot.
Aune said it's important for voters to remember who put those amendments on the ballot in the first place.
"This was such a resounding no from voters of all political stripes, that my hope is that we can continue pointing to these as examples of Missouri Republicans being out of touch and not listening to voters," Aune said.
As to whether voters will remember the August primary by the time the general November election comes around, Aune said there will be enough momentum, as long as Democrats keep it up.
"I believe that it is my job to keep this top of mind for voters. It is my job to hang this vote and these priorities around the necks of vulnerable Republicans across the state, and I plan on doing that through November," Aune said.
Asked whether he believes there will be fallout for Republicans in November over Amendments 4 and 5, Riley said they'll have to wait and see.
"At the end of the day, what we were doing was putting a question in front of the voters to consider, and they said no, and that's fair," Riley said.
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