Friends,
The 2024 Initiative and Referendum Petitions have been Filed The Missouri Secretary of State page contains a list of all initiative and referendum petitions filed with the Secretary of State’s Office during the 2024 election cycle and the status of each petition. Each petition is categorized as one of the following:Accepting Comments: All public comments will be reviewed by the Secretary of State’s Office.Rejected: The petition did not satisfy all legal requirements and is no longer under consideration.Withdrawn: The petition was removed from consideration at the request of the petitioner.Comments Closed: The petition is still under review, but comments are no longer being accepted.Approved to Circulate: The petition has received final approval and signatures can be collected.Initiative petitions restoring the right to an abortion in the State of Missouri have been filed! Click here to read the proposed constitutional amendments. (Scroll down until you see Missourians for Constitutional Freedom – the group who filed the petitions.) Also on this page, you can submit your comments regarding any or all of the petitions to the Secretary of State’s page, and MDP strongly encourages you to do so!
‘They Can’t Attack Me. Now They’re Coming After Kids’
Senator Greg Razer is the only openly gay member of the Missouri State Senate — the upper chamber of a legislature that, according to the ACLU, by late January led the nation in bills the organization calls anti-LGBTQ. That’s 31 such bills covering a wide range of policies, though most of them are identical or similar and concern one of two issues: banning transgender girls from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity and forbidding health-care providers from performing gender-transition procedures on minors. Another would prohibit public or charter schools from offering instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity — broader provisions than the Florida law critics have branded “Don’t Say Gay” for banning such instruction in kindergarten through third grade. A few regulate drag shows. One, as part of a broader “Teachers Bill of Rights,” attempts to protect teachers from reprisals for the pronouns they use. (As of mid-February, Oklahoma had overtaken Missouri in the ACLU database with 34 bills. Neighboring Kansas had 10.)
Read the Politico article
Josh Hawley thinks you’re too stupid
to realize Tucker Carlson is lying to you
Fox News lies to its viewers, and Josh Hawley is fine with that.
According to the Kansas City Star, we’ve known of both Fox’s mendacity and the Missouri Republican senator’s cynicism for a long time. But fresh developments have revealed yet again how deep the rot goes. Monday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson offered a ludicrous alternative take on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection — that deadly attack on American democracy in the name of defying the will of the voters in order to keep Donald Trump in the White House. Using a feeble smattering of clips eked out of 40,000 hours of unseen Capitol surveillance video furnished to him by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Carlson made a ridiculously weak case that it wasn’t actually a rebellion against the lawful and constitutional transfer of power to Joe Biden — instead, it was simply “mostly peaceful chaos,” generated by sightseers and tourists.
Read more at: Kansas City Star
JOIN THE PARTY
Become a Missouri Democratic Party Member today!
We need you to invest in our Party! With your support we can build our county parties, foster relationships with community organizations, support our legislators in Jefferson City as they fight for us, and provide candidates with training and resources. Click here to join!
For more information, email Info@missouridems.org.
Open enrollment legislation wins first-round approval in Missouri House
Missouri lawmakers gave initial approval Tuesday to a bill aimed at allowing students to transfer out of their home school district, adding a pair of amendments limiting its scope.The bill was approved Tuesday with 82 legislators voting in support — the exact number needed to reach a majority. Only one Democrat supported the measure, St. Louis Democrat Ian Mackey, and 24 Republicans were among the 67 “no” votes.The House must approve the bill one more time before it is sent to the Senate. Rep. Bill Pollitt, R-Sedalia, has tried to pass similar legislation for the last two years, falling short in 2022 when the House passed it but the Senate failed to take up his proposal.Pollitt has attempted to pass the bill the past two legislative sessions. His bill last year passed the House 85-66, but the Senate didn’t vote on it. Read more at: Missouri Independent
SAPA Struck Down!
A Missouri law that claimed. to invalidate federal gun law and would fine local police officers for working with federal law enforcement on gun charges was found “unconstitutional in its entirety” by a federal judge Tuesday. U.S. District Court Judge Brian Wimes ruled that the 2021 Missouri law is unconstitutional and “invalid, null, void, and of no effect.”
“State and local law enforcement officials in Missouri may lawfully participate in joint federal task forces, assist in the investigation and enforcement of federal firearm crimes,” Wimes wrote in his decision, “and fully share information with the federal government without fear of… penalties.”
Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit arguing Missouri’s law has undermined federal drug and weapons investigations.
Among its provisions, the law says law enforcement agencies will face $50,000 fines if they “infringe” on Missourians’ Second Amendment rights.
Some of those laws would include imposing certain taxes on firearms, requiring gun owners to register their weapons and laws prohibiting “law-abiding” residents from possessing or transferring their guns.
Frederic Winston, special agent in charge of the Kansas City Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), said in an affidavit submitted to the court in a separate lawsuit that a dozen state and local officers have withdrawn from participating in ATF task forces at least in part because of the law.
Read more at: Missouri Independent
STAFF COHORT PROGRAM
Spring 2023 Staff Cohort applications are due March 12th
The LeadMO Staff Cohort is designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge to build a career in politics, grassroots organizing, and advocacy.
Accepted applicants will participate in a virtual module of skill-building courses (e.g. fundraising, communications, voter contact) twice weekly for three weeks. From there students attend a weekend long capstone project to put skills to the test and continue building their political networks. This cohort requires a five week commitment of 10 hours per week + the full three-day Capstone. The LeadMO Staff Cohort is a 100% free program.
Applications are open and will be accepted until March 12th with a program start date of April 4th. Learn more and apply at leadmo.org/staff-cohort-program/.
U.S. Employers Added a Solid 311,000 Jobs in February
Jobs report shows unemployment rate rises to 3.6%;
payrolls gain marks cooling from hot start to the year
America’s employers added a substantial 311,000 jobs in February, fewer than January’s huge gain but enough to keep pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates aggressively to fight inflation. The unemployment rate rose to 3.6 percent, from a 53-year low of 3.4 percent, as more Americans began searching for work but not all of them found jobs.Friday’s report from the government made clear that the nation’s job market remains fundamentally healthy, with many employers still eager to hire. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told Congress this week that the Fed would likely ratchet up its rate hikes if signs continued to point to a robust economy and persistently high inflation. A strong job market typically leads businesses to raise pay and then pass their higher labor costs on to customers through higher prices.February’s sizable job growth shows that so far, hiring is continuing to strengthen this year after having eased in late 2022. From October through December, the average monthly job gain was 284,000. That average has surged to 351,000 for the past three months. Read more at: PBS News Hour
President Biden’s Budget Lowers Housing Costs and
Expands Access to Affordable Rent and Home Ownership
President Biden believes that everyone deserves to live in a safe and affordable home. Whether you rent or own, having a place to live that you can afford in a neighborhood with opportunities is the foundation for so much else in life.
It’s also the foundation for so much else in our economy. A lack of quality affordable housing hinders the job market and holds back economic growth by making it harder for workers to access good-paying jobs. It drives up costs for families and inflationary pressures. It also increases commutes and inefficient energy consumption, which exacerbates climate change. And a lack of affordable housing opportunities perpetuates the ongoing segregation and discrimination that our nation committed to eradicate nearly 60 years ago.
Together, the Budget proposes investments and actions that will lower costs for renters and home buyers, make our economy stronger and more resilient, and advance equity, economic opportunity, and fair housing principles that are central to the President’s economic agenda.
Read more at: The White House Fact Sheet
Hawley says some people charged for entering Capitol
on Jan. 6 ‘didn’t do anything wrong’
On January 6, 2021, Lloyd Casimiro Cruz Jr., 40, of Polo, attended the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C. After the rally, he walked down to the U.S. Capitol, where he saw people breaking windows and fighting with police. He then walked into the Capitol through a door on the Senate side, walked to the crypt and walked out. He was in the building a total of six minutes. Last month, he pled guilty on one charge of entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds and one charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who was the first senator to say he would object to the certification of the presidential election, said he isn’t sure people like Cruz should be convicted of any crimes from that day. “You’ve got people saying I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to be in here,” Hawley said this week. “They didn’t do anything wrong. They didn’t assault anybody. They didn’t engage in any acts of violence. They stayed within the velvet rope lines or whatever. And they’ve been charged with with trespass. I mean I imagine those people have got good claims, I assume, to litigate cases.” Read more at: The Kansas City Star
UPCOMING EVENTS
Democratic Club of Phelps County
St. Patricks Day Parade
Democrats from around the Phelps County region will march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Rolla on March 18. Our meet-up location on that day will be announced soon. All are welcome, including dogs, kids, etc… that are able to walk the route.
To register, visit Democratic Club of Phelps County website
