Initiative process has served Missouri well

A study by a national group of state legislators claims that potential for abuse of the initiative process outweighs its benefits and that it should be reformed in the 24 states -- including Missouri -- that allow citizens to bypass the legislature and place measures on the ballot.

The study, by the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, further recommends that states without voter initiative shouldn't adopt it.

The heart of the NCSL report is this statement:

"The initiative has evolved from its early days as a grassroots tool to enhance representative democracy into a tool that is too often exploited by special interests. The initiative lacks critical elements of the legislative process and can have both intended and unintended effects on the ability of the representative democratic process to comprehensively develop policies and priorities."

Well, maybe. Then again, maybe not.

First, some history.

The right of initiative and referendum has been in the Missouri Constitution since 1875. Interestingly, Dr. Rick Althaus, a professor of political science at Southeast Missouri State University, says many of the recommended reforms have already been incorporated into our process in Missouri.

These include requiring more signatures for a constitutional amendment than a statutory change, limiting proposals to a single subject and allowing initiative referendums only during a general election.

Recent years have seen an increase in the use of the initiative process. During the 1970s, in the various states that allow the process, there were 183 initiative referendums. During the 1990s, there were 383 such votes.

Since 1990, Missouri voters have decided 13 measures placed on the ballot via initiative, approving eight. Most fit the profile of issues on which the General Assembly was unable or unwilling to act.

Successful efforts included imposing legislative term limits, banning cock fighting, setting campaign donation limits, legalizing riverboat casinos and a follow-up measure authorizing "boats in moats" gambling facilities.

Among proposals rejected were those seeking a mandated state minimum wage, limiting new billboard construction and providing public financing for political campaigns.

We think most Missourians will look back at that list and conclude that Missouri voters are quite capable of sifting through and separating the wheat from the chaff.

We'll hang on to the initiative process, thank you very much.