AIM-supported IP reform resolution passes House

By Ray McCarty, president and CEO, Associated Industries of Missouri

Rep. Ed Lewis

September 9, 2025 - The Missouri House of Representatives today passed HJR 3, sponsored by Rep. Ed Lewis (R-006, Moberly), sending the bill to the Missouri Senate. Associated Industries of Missouri (AIM) supports the resolution.

The joint resolution will submit to voters the opportunity to change the number of votes required to pass a constitutional amendment that is placed directly on the ballot by initiative petition. Currently, such measures require only a simple majority vote. If the resolution is approved by voters, such constitutional amendments would require approval by a majority of votes cast in each of Missouri's congressional districts.

The resolution prohibits financial contributions for or against ballot measures by "foreign adversaries" or "foreign nationals" - the latter defined as, "any individual who is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States of America."

HJR 3 addresses fraudulent petition signatures and gatherers of those signatures, establishing penalties of one year of imprisonment or $1,000 fine, or both. The Attorney General would be responsible for enforcing this provision.

The full text of all such ballot issues would be required to be printed or provided in digital format at the time a ballot is made available to a voter for voting. This would help educate voters on the fine details of issues like the paid sick leave/paid domestic violence leave/minimum wage hike passed as Proposition A in November 2024. That ballot issue, placed on the ballot by initiative petition, was a combination of three separate issues and contained very restrictive provisions preventing businesses from regulating the use of such leave by employees, leaving employers vulnerable to lawsuits if they violated any provisions of Proposition A.

"Voters must be given all the information when they are asked to make an informed decision," said Ray McCarty, president of Associated Industries of Missouri. "When Proposition A passed, many business owners and operators were not aware of the onerous details contained in the ballot measure until after it passed. This led to our effort to overturn the measure through the General Assembly, which was ultimately successful."

The resolution would also require the Missouri Secretary of State (or his/her designee) to conduct one or more in-person or web-based hearings to receive additional public comment regarding the purpose and effect of all proposed initiative measures, including both constitutional and statutory amendments. Transcripts or summaries of the hearings must be made available to the public no later than seven (7) days after the hearing and before the petition is placed on the ballot. This is particularly important because currently these initiative petitions receive no public hearing, unlike bills that are passed through the regular legislative process.

"Giving individuals and groups the chance to provide input will greatly improve the initiative petition process," said Matthew Smith, VP of Government Affairs for Associated Industries of Missouri, in testimony supporting HJR 3 in the House committee hearing.

Although the resolution passed with overwhelming Republican support by a vote of 98-58 (see vote here), Speaker of the House Jon Patterson voted against the resolution, as did several other Republicans.

The resolution will now move to the Missouri Senate for further consideration. We will update you of future developments.