KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics in Kansas and Missouri. A viewer sent an email to the newsroom asking Charlie to look into who is backing Amendments 4 and 5 on the Aug. 4 primary. Share your story idea with Charlie.
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Missouri voters will decide whether to pass several constitutional amendments at the polls Tuesday.
A yes on Amendment 4 would change the initiative petition process, making it harder to change the state’s constitution.
The amendment would require a majority of voters in all eight of Missouri’s congressional districts to support a citizen-led initiative for it to pass rather than a simple statewide majority.
The main supporter of the amendment is the group Protect Missouri Promise. Its largest donor is MCR PAC, whose main supporter is St. Louis-area resident Mike Rayner.
He did not return a call asking for comment.
The main groups opposing Amendment 4 are Missourians for Fair Governance and Protect Majority Rule Missouri.
Missourians for Fair Governance raised about $8 million.
Missouri REALTORS is a significant contributor to Missourians for Fair Governance.
The group’s spokesperson, Scott Charton, said the association’s 26,000 members — who live and work in Missouri — make contributions to the campaign.
“They're your neighbors. They're people you worship with in the same church on Sunday,” Charton said.
A yes on Amendment 5 would phase out Missouri’s state income tax. The amendment calls for creating a new tax policy that relies more on sales and use taxes.
Sales taxes could increase, and services like plumbing and haircuts could begin collecting sales tax.
Eliminating the income tax was part of Mike Kehoe’s gubernatorial campaign platform. He supports a yes vote.
The group Missouri Promise is running the most robust campaign in support of the measure.
So far, it’s raised roughly $15 million through money and in-kind donations.
The majority of its donors are from out of state. Missouri-based organizations Secure Missouri and Missouri Action have also donated to the cause.
Campaign finance reports do not list any individual people among the donors to Missouri Promise.
The PAC’s spokesperson, Joe Lamie, addressed questions about donors in a statement.
"Missouri Promise PAC complies with every Missouri campaign finance law, and every contribution required to be disclosed is publicly reported with the Missouri Ethics Commission; Missouri law permits ballot measure committees to receive support from individuals and organizations both inside and outside Missouri, as ballot measures routinely attract national interest because they involve significant public policy issues, but ultimately we believe Missourians support Amendment 5 because they recognize it provides a constitutional framework with safeguards to responsibly phase out the state income tax over time, and voters should judge the amendment on its merits—not on political attacks about who supports or opposes it."
The Missouri REALTORS group is also leading the opposition to Amendment 5, donating to Missourians for Fair Taxation and to its Protect MO Taxpayers campaign.
“You talk about the American Dream of homeownership that is critically important still, and housing affordability for everyone is one of our dominant issues, and that's why we're so engaged on both 4 and 5,” said Charton, who is also serving as the spokesperson for this campaign.
Voters were split on how much credence they put on political donations and advertisements.
“I don’t want to vote for anybody who’s gotten money from super PACs or anything like that,” Annie Deaver-Bohrn said.
“I don’t pay too much attention to the political ads on TV or mailers,” Tiff Sykes said.
“It’s felt very much like they’re trying to use buzzwords and package this up in a way that sounds really good so long as you don’t look too closely at it,” Mary Jean Miller said.
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