Millions spent to amend Missouri Constitution

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Millions were spent successfully advertising for and against hot-topic proposed amendments to the Missouri Constitution during an election cycle unusually devoid of high-profile campaigns for office.

Campaign finance reports due Thursday showed two campaigns in particular shoveled hundreds of thousands of dollars in a media blitz leading up to the Nov. 4 elections: a group supporting restrictions on the governor's budget-balancing powers and opponents of a measure to tie teacher evaluations to student performance.

Proposed constitutional amendments took center stage during the general election, the first in almost a quarter-century that didn't feature a race for president, governor or U.S. senator. Republican Auditor Tom Schweich was the only statewide candidate up for re-election, and he faced no Democratic challenger.

Schweich spent about $843,962 the election cycle and still has $924,160 on hand as of Nov. 29, which could go to a future campaign. He's considering a run for governor in 2016 and plans to announce a decision early next year.

Some Missouri donors focused on ballot initiatives, absent other contentious statewide campaigns for office.

The Committee in Support of Public Education spent more than $800,000 on media in the final weeks in a successful campaign to convince Missourians to vote against a proposal that would have required student test results to play a major role in teacher evaluations. They poured more than $2.2 million into the campaign that election cycle and funneled about $79,000 in leftover funds into another long-term committee for later use.

The measure was perhaps the most attention-grabbing issue on the November ballot.

The amendment was pushed by a group financed by investment firm founder Rex Sinquefield, the state's most prominent political donor. The group, Teach Great, dropped its campaign after polls showed poor public support -- but that didn't stop education groups from fighting the proposal. They said it could have pushed educators to "teach to the test" and could have led to poor results for educators of disadvantaged students who might score poorly regardless of instruction.

Teach Great spent just $150 on advertising in September in its last effort for the cause before withdrawing. It spent a total of more than $1.5 million that election cycle.

One group made a successful push to scale back the governor's power to balance the budget.

Amendment 10 allows lawmakers to override a governor's decision to freeze or slow spending on items in the state budget -- just as they can for line-item vetoes. The initiative also prevents governors from making budget recommendations to the Legislature based on revenue from legislation that's not yet been passed.

Money flowed for television ads ripping into Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon for more than $700 million in spending restrictions he placed on the budget that runs through June 30.

The Missouri Club for Growth paid $1.5 million for TV ads Sept. 30, and later spent $90,000 on direct mail. In total, the organization spent about $1.6 million on the election and had a little more than $78,000 on hand as of Nov. 29.

A less-publicized push to clear the path to prosecute alleged child sexual abusers was funded by about $52,000.

Amendment 2 passed with the support of some prosecutors and law enforcement officials who want to be able to use allegations of past criminal acts against suspects facing sex-related charges involving victims under 18 years old. The measure faced no organized opposition.

It is an exception to the general prohibition against using evidence of past crimes against defendants facing new criminal charges.

All $52,015 of the money spent by Protect Missouri Children in the last period leading up to the election went to advertising or other media promoting the amendment, including $3,500 paid to the Missouri Republican Party for automated calls.