Jefferson City, Mo. – The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments for an appeal of a Cole County Circuit Court ruling that ordered the Attorney General to approve the fiscal note provided by the Auditor for a reproductive rights ballot initiative.
The case stems from legal actions taken by the ACLU of Missouri on behalf of Dr. Anna Fitz-James after documents revealed a power struggle over the final approval authority of the fiscal note between the Attorney General and Auditor.
Luz María Henríquez, Executive Director of the ACLU of Missouri, issued the following statement after the hearing:
“For more than a hundred years, Missourians have depended upon and exercised their right to direct democracy through the initiative petition process. Missourians have a fierce independent streak and have not tolerated inaction by politicians on issues that matter, nor have tolerated government overreach – from either Republicans or Democrats in Jefferson City.
“The purpose of the initiative petition process is to empower the people to decide the policy of Missouri on important issues-- not politicians seeking their next job. The framers never had any intention to allow, or ever fathomed, stalemate between the Attorney General and the Auditor as an end to an initiative petition. If the standoff between two politicians is allowed to prevent this initiative petition process from moving forward, it will effectively end Missourians’ right to direct democracy.
“The Cole County Circuit Court found the Attorney General had an ‘absolute lack of authority’ to reject the fiscal note and that his claim to have the authority to dictate the fiscal note to the Auditor is ‘preposterous.’
“The core issue before the Missouri Supreme Court is whether one person can deny more than 6 million people in our state the chance for an up or down vote on whether to modify the constitution to enshrine rights. The point of the right to initiative is that the people can act independent of the ruling political class. The people have exercised this power time and again to act when the legislature would not: to expand Medicaid, to legalize marijuana, to allow a livable minimum wage. The people should also get to vote their opinion on Missouri politicians’ choice to ban abortions.
“The Attorney General’s attempt to impose his will on the people of Missouri by acting on his emotions and political beliefs rather than following the constitution is more consistent with the tendencies of an authoritarian government than what we would expect to find in a thriving democracy.
“Dr. Fitz-James has waited more than double the 54 days prescribed by statute for the Secretary of State to certify the ballot title. As of today, she has waited 133 days. That is almost 80 days that challenges to the ballot summary could have been heard by the court, that is nearly three months taken away from the time to collect signatures.
“We expect the Missouri Supreme Court to put an end to these delay tactics deployed by the Attorney General to deny Missourians the opportunity to vote on protecting reproductive freedom. The obstruction of people’s right to initiative will make a signature-gathering campaign more challenging and more difficult, but we will not bow to the Attorney General’s abusive tactics—instead, we will support Missourians and redouble our efforts to ensure that Missourians—not political partisans—have a fair chance to weigh in on this important issue.
“The ACLU of Missouri will always fight to protect Missourians right to direct democracy, especially in the face of government officials who will openly defy the law.”