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St. Louis Public Radio News
(2008-02-28)
JEFFERSON CITY, MO
(St. Louis Public Radio) -
The Missouri House has passed legislation that would place restrictions on who can gather signatures for petitions on ballot initiatives.The bill would mandate that only Missouri residents can collect signatures; that workers can only collect for one petition at a time, and that they cannot be paid per signature.
It was sponsored by State Representative Michael Parson (R, Bolivar).
"I think it's important if we're going to change the Missouri Constitution, that we be from Missouri that's gonna change it, that we're the ones handling the initiative petitions...we're getting a lot of outside influences coming in here and it's all about the money," Parson said.
The bill was opposed by House Minority Floor Leader Paul LeVota (D, Independence).
"It's not a terrible bill, and that's typically what we find in Jefferson City...there's not (a lot of) bills that are so terrible, but overall I was concerned that this would limit the people of Missouri's right to use the petition-initiative process," LeVota said.
The bill now goes to the State Senate. © Copyright 2009, St. Louis Public Radio
