Constitutional Amendment would protect voter-approved initiatives

St. Louis area Representative Scott Sifton is working to bring a new amendment to Missouri’s Constitution. The so-called Voter Protection Act would require a three-fourths majority in both the House and Senate to amend or repeal a voter-approved measure, such as Prop B or the clean energy law.

Sifton, a Democrat, has organized a Voter Protection Alliance that includes proponents on both the left and the right, such as the Humane Society of the United States and Americans for Tax Reform.

Sifton says that he understands that legislators should vote the will of their district, and that is precisely why amendments to Proposition B have passed the House and Senate. That’s also why he believes that voter-approved laws need protection.

“The folks that show up for work here to cast votes are doing their best to represent their constituents. That’s what they are elected to do. They’re doing their job. Which is why the Constitution should say, if the voters say one thing and the legislature says another, the tie should really go to the voters,” Sifton says.

The Voter Protection Alliance plans to obtain enough signatures to put the amendment on the Missouri ballot in November 2012.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

Posted in: Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act,Scott Sifton,Voter Protection Act,Voter Protection Alliance