Ballot Measure Analysis
Your Voice Your Vote 2024
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Missouri voters will vote on six statewide ballot measures on Nov. 5. Below are brief summaries of each.
AMENDMENT 2 – Sports betting
Fair ballot language
A “yes” vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to permit licensed sports wagering regulated by the Missouri Gaming Commission and restrict sports betting to individuals physically located in the state and over the age of 21. The amendment includes a 10% wagering tax on revenues received to be appropriated for educational institutions in Missouri.
A “no” vote will not amend the Missouri Constitution regarding licensed regulated sports wagering.
If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.
Summary
A yes vote on Amendment 2 would allow anyone age 21 or older located in the state of Missouri to place bets on professional and college sports through licensed operators online, in casinos and on gambling boats.
The amendment is supported primarily by all major professional sports teams in the state and major sportsbook companies.
How much state revenue would sports betting generate?
The state estimates tax revenue ranging from $0 to nearly $29 million. That’s based on the 10 percent tax on adjusted gross revenue outlined in the amendment. The measure allows sportsbooks to exclude winnings paid out and promotional bets from the taxable revenue.
The amendment specifies that the revenue collected first must be used for the costs of the state Gaming Commission, which will regulate sports betting, and $5 million will go to a state fund for anti-gambling addiction programs. The leftover amount must be used for public school and higher education funding.
Why do some people say the money won’t actually add to education funding?
One of the chief concerns of some who oppose the amendment is whether the revenue from sports betting would be additional money for education or whether, like money collected from the state lottery and riverboat gambling, the funding would simply be used to meet the targets in the state’s foundation formula that determines funding for schools across Missouri. In that case, the money from sports betting would just replace existing funding for education. There is no language in the amendment preventing the legislature from doing so.
AMENDMENT 3 – Abortion
Fair ballot language
A “yes” vote establishes a constitutional right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, with any governmental interference of that right presumed invalid; removes Missouri’s ban on abortion; allows regulation of reproductive health care to improve or maintain the health of the patient; requires the government not to discriminate, in government programs, funding, and other activities, against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care; and allows abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman.
A “no” vote will continue the statutory prohibition of abortion in Missouri.
If passed, this measure may reduce local taxes while the impact to state taxes is unknown.
Summary
A yes vote on Amendment 3 would reverse Missouri’s near-total 2022 ban on abortion. The amendment would legalize abortion up to the point of fetal viability, which is generally around the end of the second trimester or 24 weeks. Before the 2022 ban, abortions weren’t allowed after eight weeks.
Currently, Missouri law makes it a class B felony to perform an abortion other than in a medical emergency. The amendment would invalidate that law.
The amendment would also protect those seeking an abortion or other forms of reproductive health care, like birth control, from being punished or discriminated against by the state.
What does it have to do with transgender care?
Some in opposition to the amendment, including Gov. Mike Parson, have said that Amendment 3 could allow “children to undergo life-altering sex-change operations, without parental knowledge.” Legal experts have said that’s not true and there is nothing in the amendment that indicates that would be the case. Additionally, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled: “The provisions of Amendment 3 clearly relate to one subject — the right to reproductive freedom.”
AMENDMENT 5 – Ozarks gambling boat
Fair ballot language
A “yes” vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to allow the Missouri Gaming Commission to issue an additional gambling boat license to operate an excursion gambling boat on the Osage River, between the Missouri River and the Bagnell Dam. All state revenue derived from the issuance of the gambling boat license shall be appropriated to early-childhood literacy programs in public institutions of elementary education.
A “no” vote will not amend the Missouri Constitution regarding gambling boat licensure. If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.
Summary
Currently, the Missouri Constitution only allows gambling boats on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Amendment 5 would add the Osage River as well. The passage of the amendment would allow the construction of a planned development at the Lake of the Ozarks including a casino, convention center, hotel, restaurants and other attractions, according to the Osage River Gaming and Convention Committee, the main supporter of the amendment.
AMENDMENT 6 – Sheriff, prosecutor court fees
Fair ballot language
A “yes” vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to levy costs and fees to support salaries and benefits for current and former sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys, and circuit attorneys to ensure all Missourians have access to the courts of justice.
A “no” vote will not amend the Missouri Constitution to levy costs and fees related to current or former sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys and circuit attorneys.
If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.
Summary
In 2021, the Missouri Supreme Court found unconstitutional a court fee system in place since 1983 that funded state retirement funds for sheriffs across the state. Amendment 6 would enshrine in the constitution a $3 fee per case in which a guilty verdict or plea deal is reached to provide revenue for that fund and a $4 fee for prosecutors’ retirement benefits. This year, the legislature allocated $2.5 million for the sheriffs’ retirement fund.
AMENDMENT 7 – Ranked-choice voting
Fair ballot language
A “yes” vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to specify that only United States citizens are entitled to vote, voters shall only have a single vote for each candidate or issue, restrict any type of ranking of candidates for a particular office and require the person receiving the greatest number of votes at the primary election as a party candidate for an office shall be the only candidate for that party at the general election, and require the person receiving the greatest number of votes for each office at the general election shall be declared the winner. This provision does not apply to any nonpartisan municipal election held in a city that had an ordinance in effect as of November 5, 2024, that requires a preliminary election at which more than one candidate advances to a subsequent election.
A “no” vote will not amend the Missouri Constitution to make any changes to how voters vote in primary and general elections.
If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.
Summary
Amendment 7 would ban ranked-choice and approval voting in all elections in Missouri except for those that already use it, like municipal primary elections in St. Louis that use approval voting. The amendment also includes language banning non-citizens from voting, which is already illegal.
Ranked-choice voting allows voters to rank the candidates in order of preference rather than just vote for one candidate in a race. For example, in the Nodaway County Republican primary election in August, there were three candidates running for sheriff. With ranked-choice voting, voters would have been able to rank each candidate rather than vote for just one.
Then, when the votes are counted, the election office counts the number of ballots on which each candidate was the top pick. If no candidate has a majority, the candidate with the lowest total is eliminated and their votes are reallocated to the next pick on each voter’s ballot, and so on.
The winning candidate must still have the majority of voters prefer them over their opponents.
In approval voting, voters just select each candidate they approve of in each race. Then the candidate with the highest number of votes wins.
PROPOSITION A – Minimum wage, sick leave
Fair ballot language
A “yes” vote will amend Missouri statutes to increase the state minimum wage beginning January 1, 2025 to $13.75 per hour and increase the hourly rate $1.25, to $15.00 per hour beginning January 2026. Annually the minimum wage will be adjusted based on the Consumer Price Index. The law will require employers with fifteen or more employees to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every thirty hours worked. The amendment will exempt governmental entities, political subdivisions, school districts and education institutions from the minimum wage increase.
A “no” vote will not amend Missouri law to make changes to the state minimum wage law.
If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.
Summary
A yes vote on Proposition A would increase the state minimum wage to $13.75 starting in 2025 and $15 starting in 2026. Starting in 2027, the minimum wage would continue to be adjusted automatically based on the Consumer Price Index.
It would also require businesses to give workers one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Businesses with fewer than 15 employees would be required to offer up to five days per year while businesses with more than 15 employees would be required to offer up to seven.
Currently, the state minimum wage is $12.30 per hour.
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