The Forum

Note: Some information in this article has been corrected by a later article. See the corrections here.

Proposition A - Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave

Proposition A, if passed, would increase the minimum wage in Missouri by $1.25 per hour every year, starting on Jan. 1, 2025, until it becomes $15 in 2026. After 2026, Proposition A would increase minimum wage every year according to inflation, as determined by the Consumer Price Index. It would also require employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, with the exception of government institutions and schools.

Amendment 2 - Sports Betting

Amendment 2 seeks to legalize sports betting in the state of Missouri and impose a 10% tax on wagers, which would be allocated to education and gambling addiction prevention through the Compulsive Gambling Prevention Fund. Under Amendment 2, sports betting would be restricted to those 21 years-of-age and above and would be regulated by the Missouri Gaming Commission.

Amendment 3 - Abortion

Amendment 3 would legalize abortion until fetal viability in a pregnancy. It follows the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that nationally protected abortion rights for decades. After the Supreme Court overturned the precedent in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Missouri immediately enacted a previously passed “trigger” ban on abortion, becoming the first state to do so. Missouri’s abortion ban is near-total, banning abortion throughout the entirety of a pregnancy with no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest; the only exception is if the pregnancy threatens the life of the pregnant person. Amendment 3 is perhaps the most contentious and significant ballot measure of the election.

Amendment 5 - Osage River Gambling Boat License

Amendment 5 is a relatively minor and simple one. If passed, it will allow the Missouri Gaming Commission to issue an additional license for a gambling boat on the Osage River, near the Lake of the Ozarks. This would increase the total and maximum number of licensed gambling boats in Missouri from 13 to 14. All revenue that the State of Missouri collects from the gambling boat would go towards childhood literacy programs in public elementary schools.

Amendment 6 - Court Fees for Employment Benefits for Sheriffs and Prosecutors

Amendment 6 would allow the Missouri General Assembly to charge fees on court cases to fund the salaries and employee benefits–including often large pensions–of current and former county sheriffs, prosecutors, and circuit attorneys. In 2020, the Missouri Supreme Court prohibited a three dollar charge that the Missouri General Assembly placed on every court case for the same purpose.

Amendment 7 - Ranked-Choice Voting and Non-Citizen Voting 

Amendment 7 would both enshrine an explicit ban on non-citizens voting in elections into the Missouri Constitution as well as prohibit ranked-choice voting or any alternative electoral system besides the standard first-past-the-post method from being used in the state. This would force the City of St. Louis, which has used approval voting since it was adopted through a local ballot initiative in 2020, to revert to the first-past-the-post standard. It is already federally illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections and, according to both the Missouri Independent and Fox 2, the existing language of the Missouri Constitution already implies that non-citizens are not allowed to vote. Furthermore, Missouri requires people to have a government-issued photo ID to vote using a non-provisional ballot, and undocumented immigrants cannot be issued photo IDs by the State of Missouri or the federal government.