AMENDMENTS, PROPOSITION ON NOV. 3 BALLOT

On Nov. 3, Missourians will be voting on seven constitutional amendments and one proposition. Here are our recommendations on some of these ballot measures (Amendment 9 will be discussed Tuesday):

Amendment 1: This proposal changes the deadline for submitting initiative petitions to six months before an election from four months (May instead of July). The secretary of state and county clerks urge passage in order to give themselves and their personnel more time to validate petition signatures.

We urge a NO vote on Amendment 1. The convenience of elected officials isn't a sufficient reason to make the initiative process more difficult for the citizens who choose to use it.

Amendment 2: This proposal would allow local school boards to raise property taxes to $2.75 without a vote of the people. This amendment would place in the Constitution what Gov. Mel Carnahan and his legislative majority did to us in 1993 with passage of the Outstanding Schools Act: establishment of higher taxes without the vote of the people he had promised during his 1992 campaign.

The amendment would also reduce the current requirement of a two-thirds vote for levies between $3.75 and $6 to a simple majority. Anything over $6 would still require a two-thirds majority.

We urge a NO vote on Amendment 2.

Amendment 5: This proposal would establish more alternatives for investment of state funds by the treasurer with the potential for a better return. It requires the treasurer to write an investment plan and release it to the public. This is already being done by Treasurer Bob Holden.

We urge a YES vote on Amendment 5.

Amendment 6: This proposal was written to enable a water commission near the Mark Twain Lake in Northeast Missouri to broaden its scope and issue bonds for sewer projects, if voters approve.

We urge a YES vote on Amendment 6.

Amendment 7: This amendment will continue stormwater and water pollution programs already in place. Ten years ago, voters approved the issuance of $275 million in such bonds, and this money is gone. This proposal will authorize an additional $300 million in bonds. The Clean Water Commission will continue to distribute the funds. The state will incur about $17.3 million in principal and interest annually for 35 years. About two-thirds of the money will go to first-class counties such as Cape Girardeau for stormwater control.

We urge a YES vote on Amendment 7.

Amendment 8: This proposal legalizes raffles and sweepstakes organized by religious and charitable groups, which many are already doing. Passage would assure your children and neighbors aren't made into criminals for helping out your church, school or civic club.

We urge a YES vote on Amendment 8.

Proposition A: This is the initiative proposal that aims to outlaw cockfighting. For more than a century, Missouri had a law on the books outlawing cockfighting. In 1985, the Missouri Supreme Court struck that law down for being unconstitutionally vague. Since then, Missouri has been one of only five states that doesn't have a law outlawing cockfighting.

If it were that simple, you could safely vote for Proposition A. It isn't. For one thing, every person who attended a cockfight would be a criminal. As one critic wrote, there is in the proposal "broad and general language defining a wide range of new crimes that happen to include cockfighting, then in later language `exempts' several common practices such as legal hunting, animal agriculture or ... `rodeo practices currently sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboy's Association.'" This is probably an unconstitutional attempt to delegate lawmaking power residing exclusively in the Legislature to a private group. PRCA rules may be fine today, but this isn't how we write the laws of this state.

For these and other reasons, we urge a NO vote on Proposition A. Let sincere opponents of cockfighting come back with more narrowly drafted language that voters can and will approve overwhelmingly -- without these serious defects.