JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri voters will decide two changes to the state’s constitution in the August primary election.
In an announcement Tuesday, Gov. Mike Parson placed a plan approved by the Legislature to allow child care establishments to be exempt from property taxes on the Aug. 6 primary election ballot.
The other question is a re-vote of an initiative requiring Kansas City to spend more on policing. It was approved in 2022, but the Missouri Supreme Court issued a ruling in April calling for a second round of voting.
The placement of the two on the primary ballot likely means high-profile, citizen-led ballot questions regarding the legalization of abortion and sports betting will be on the November general election ballot if they are certified by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.
People are also reading…
Under the child care question, lawmakers voted in 2023 to enable counties to grant tax exemptions for real and personal property for child care providers in a bid to address a shortage in the state.
The sponsor of the proposal, Sen. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, said the tax break could make it easier for facilities to provide child care.
Parson has made boosting child care in the state a priority as a way to get more people in the workplace.
The proposed constitutional amendment requiring Kansas City to spend more on police is in response to a Supreme Court decision that struck down a 2022 vote that passed with 63% of the vote.
The initiative required the city to spend 25% of general revenue on police, up from the previous 20% requirement.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas filed a successful lawsuit in 2023 alleging that voters were misled because the ballot language used financial estimates in the fiscal note summary that were not correct.
Kansas City is the only city in Missouri that does not control its police department. Rather, a state board oversees the department’s operations and its budget.
Efforts to place ºüÀêÊÓƵ police under state control again fizzled in the legislative session that concluded May 17.