Welcome to the State of Missouri that is run by Republicans that are apparently trapped in some sort of echo chamber created by their own success. Honestly, I did not know a single person that thought Amendments 4 and 5 were going to pass.
When I saw the retired school teachers unions take after Amendment 5, it was beyond dead in the water. They destroyed it and the same thing is happening to the plan to revise school funding. The Republican-led initiative may be good intentioned to conservative point of view, but schools have claimed the public narrative and discourse on the issue and any changes are unlikely at this point.
Lesson learned? Nope. Abortion issue is going to be on the November ballot. Apparently, the Missouri Republican party are masochists and like these beatings. I guess just leave them be, you like what you like. We should not be judgmental.
The next Amendment is Amendment 3, which would prohibit abortion and gender transition for minors. That sounds simple enough for normal people to approve, but it’s never that easy. This amendment will repeal the constitutional rights around abortion that were voted for and approved by the voters in 2024.
This will get crushed. Bet the house on it. The left will very clearly understand the definition of a woman when this issue hits the streets.
Apparently, we do not yet have an Amendment 2 for the voters to anticipate crushing, but I suppose it is on some senator’s desk currently, just awaiting a statewide drubbing.
My party of one is sponsoring no amendments in the upcoming election cycle, you are welcome.
The irritation in Foley’s column last week over the City of Platte City and the Sunshine Law quotes brought back unpleasant memories for me.
The Sunshine Law has been completely hijacked by the public organizations and their statewide lobby groups like the Missouri Municipal League and Missouri Association of Counties.
Somehow, they have convinced member cities, counties, and public organizations that the opposite of the law is true. Somehow, officials all across this state think that the “Sunshine Law” prevents them from releasing information. It is the exact opposite, hence the name “Sunshine.” It is designed to “release” information, but here we are decades after the law becoming reality and we have nearly all public officials that don’t understand the law or the intent and hide behind it as some sort of excuse to withhold information.
Public officials starting statements with, “Well, because of the Sunshine Law, I can’t …..”. will make any access-informed journalist sigh in disgust. I’ve heard similar from fire districts, water boards, cities, counties, and the like for years.
Maybe they could make one of those “How a Bill becomes a Law” cartoons for public officials to be required to watch about the Sunshine Law. Worth a try.
(Guy Speckman can be reached withholding information in the name of the Sunshine Law)
