Elections committee hears testimony on initiative, referendum reforms in House Bills 551 and 575

The Missouri House Committee on Elections held a public hearing on House Bill 551 and House Bill 575, identical measures that would revise statutory procedures for initiative petitions and referendums.

Representatives John Martin (the bills’ primary sponsor) and Representative Vanderman presented the measures, telling the committee the bills aim to “let Missourians take charge of their constitution” by standardizing petition forms, tightening circulator requirements, and changing payment rules for signature gatherers. Representative John Martin said the bills would require petition pages to use a form prescribed by the Secretary of State, specify one-inch margins and a minimum 12-point Times New Roman font, and make an electronic form available for printing and use.

Representative Vanderman, who also spoke for the measures, highlighted a provision that would prohibit payment to petition circulators based on the number of signatures collected. Vanderman said, “no petition circulator shall be paid anything of value that is based on the number of signatures collected,” and argued courts have given precedent supporting limits on pay-per-signature arrangements.

Sponsors also described three other main changes: (1) requiring circulators be state residents or present in Missouri for at least 30 days…