Missouri Monitor: February 15, 2021

Missouri Lawmakers are Still Governing in the Dark!

Let's check in:

• Still in a pandemic.
• Still no mask requirement in the Missouri State Capitol.
• Still no way for everyday Missourians to testify from home.

Just weeks ago, lawmakers let President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani testify over Zoom, but they refuse to give Missourians this option. Missourians should not have to choose between risking our health and participating in our democracy! 

Add your name to the ACLU of Missouri’s petition demanding our lawmakers set up basic virtual tools so everyday Missourians can participate in hearings and give live testimony on the 1700+ bills moving through the legislative process. 

If you've already signed the petition, spread the word on social media by posting on Facebook and sharing on Twitter!

Attacking Democracy While Shutting People Out

Taking advantage of the fact that most Missourians can’t safely participate in the legislative process right now (ahem, see above), GOP lawmakers are pushing bills that weaken our right to direct democracy through the initiative petition process. 

In Missouri, we have had the right to directly petition one another for changes to our laws and constitution for nearly 150 years. Last week, Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri submitted testimony against eleven different bills that attack the initiative petition process. Each one imposes additional, unnecessary burdens on Missourians’ right to directly petition one another. 

The current process to qualify a measure on the ballot through initiative petition is already extremely difficult. It requires hundreds of volunteers to devote thousands of hours gathering signatures — and many of us know this firsthand from the fight to pass Medicaid Expansion and defeat so-called “Right to Work” laws.

Missourians of all political persuasions have used the process, oftentimes using it together to overcome legislative roadblocks. Initiative petitions require the signatures of between 200,000 and 350,000 Missourians, while the Legislature can put items on the ballot with a simple majority vote of politicians. 

All of these proposals attack citizens' rights to directly petition one another without reviewing the process through which the legislature places issues on the ballots. They are about silencing voters, not empowering us.

Recap: SEMO Advocates' HIV Modernization Phone Bank

On Thursday, February 11, SEMO Advocates — a group of volunteer leaders who support reproductive freedom — made hundreds of dials to speak with folks about modernizing our HIV laws in Missouri. This phone bank targeted people in Senate District 25, which covers Butler, Carter, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Shannon, and Stoddard Counties. We spoke with leaders and constituents across the region and learned about the history of Missouri’s HIV criminalization laws and how they impact Southeast Missouri directly. 

SEMO Advocates will have another phone bank next week — we’ll announce it on Facebook and Twitter once it’s scheduled so you can sign up!

To learn more about the effort to modernize Missouri’s HIV laws, check out the Missouri HIV Justice Coalition!

Sen. Hawley Must Resign

Senator Hawley has lied to his constituents, undermined our democracy, and violated his oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution.

Demand Sen. Hawley resign so we can move forward together.