March Hot Sheet: Worker Justice Attacks in Missouri + Early Voting in Louisiana

03/19/2025

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Welcome back to The Hot Sheet!

Here, we give you a quick rundown of what you need to know about the 2025 ballot measure landscape — the trends, analysis, highlights of what’s on the ballot, and why it all matters. 

For more in-depth analysis, our latest voter attitudes research, and information on the measures we’re tracking, head to our Ballot Measure Hub.

2025 Direct Democracy Legislation Landscape

As of March 17, BISC is tracking 207 active pieces of legislation related to direct democracy in 35 states plus Washington D.C.. 20 bills have so far passed in state houses.

There are six confirmed measures on statewide ballots this spring in Louisiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin. All of which are legislatively-referred. Additionally, two initiatives in Maine have been certified to the state legislature. If approved by the legislature, they will become law; if rejected or left unaddressed, they would proceed to the 2025 ballot.

BISC is currently tracking 23 measures that are vying for the 2025 ballot and two that have been certified to the Maine legislature.

The Toplines

  • At least 54 pieces of legislation in 2025 include attacks on the signature collection phase of the ballot initiative process — including nine bills that have already passed in Arkansas and South Dakota.
  • Louisiana is in the midst of early voting ahead of the state’s March 29 election. Voters will weigh in on four proposed legislatively-referred constitutional amendments:
  • Republican legislators in Arizona are risking future litigation regarding an unconstitutional proposal to allocate $50 million from the state’s general fund to implement Prop. 314, a 2024 legislatively-referred measure authorizing state and local police to engage in federal border enforcement. 
  • Advocates in Missouri are fighting to defend the voter-approved paid sick leave and minimum wage increase initiative, Proposition A. Legislators have filed a bill that would strip away the right for workers to earn paid sick leave, delay the $15/hour minimum wage, and more, while a legal challenge is asking the Missouri Supreme Court to overturn the initiative altogether.

Emerging Trends

  • Attacks on Ballot Initiative Signature Collection: In legislatures around the country, lawmakers are proposing higher or broader collection requirements, superfluous canvasser protocols, and tighter deadlines. Though bill sponsors and their proponents claim the demands are necessary to prevent petition fraud, they’re a thinly veiled effort to stymy ballot initiative efforts before voters have a chance to weigh in on an issue. Examples include:
    • Arkansas Senate Bill 207 [Passed]
      • Requires canvassers to inform signers that petition fraud is a Class A misdemeanor. If the canvasser fails to do so, they can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor theirself.  
      • Sen. Jamie Scott (D-North Little Rock) named SB 207 and similar anti-initiative proposals as being a form of voter suppression not unlike the literacy tests and poll taxes that historically targeted marginalized communities.
    • Florida House Bill 1205
      • Requires canvassers to be Florida residents, clear a criminal background check, and complete a training provided by the state.
      • Petitions would have to be turned in within 10 days of signature (down from 30 days currently) or face significant fines ranging from $50 to $100 for each day late.
      • Creates a complicated signature verification process for petitions which would burden election offices.
    • Missouri House Bill 575
      • Should a judge order a change that substantially alters the content of the official ballot title, all signatures collected prior to the change would be invalidated. 
      • Requires that signature collectors be U.S. citizens, a Missouri resident or physically present in the state at least 30 consecutive days prior to collection.
    • Oklahoma Senate Bill 116
      • No more than 5% of the total number of signatures required could originate from any one county, effectively silencing electors from more populous areas including Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Norman.

The trend doesn’t end at signature collection; those attacking the ballot initiative process have also set their sights on other pre-Election Day opportunities including removal of signature cure periods, increased Attorney General scrutiny, and exorbitant fees. 

Ballot Measure to Watch

Issue: Fiscal Policy

Louisiana: Amendment 2: State Tax and Fiscal Policy Changes

What It Does: The proposed amendment is essentially a rewrite and restructuring of Article VII of the Louisiana Constitution, which addresses state and local fiscal policy. A 115-page document, Amendment 2 covers a multitude of areas from income tax deductions and education trust funds to an infant mortality program and taxes on take-out food. Given the extent of the proposed changes, the ballot language includes only a few select highlights, including lowering the maximum rate of income tax and providing for a government growth limit, and property tax exemptions, and a permanent teacher salary increase.

Why It Matters: Because the legislatively-referred measure touches on so many different aspects of revenue and finance, the amendment has attracted an expansive variety of both supporters and critics. Supporters say that the amendment sets the state up for long-term success without over-extending its fiscal resources, for example on excessive tax breaks or interest on debt. The amendment has received support from Louisiana’s two largest teachers unions, with the president of one claiming the measure “provides the only avenue to create some kind of financial stability” for teachers and other school staff. 

However, critics argue that the amendment would alter too much at once and that the brief ballot language fails to properly explain the measure’s numerous aspects. In fact, a lawsuit challenging Amendment 2 includes the accusation that “there is no person in the State of Louisiana – including the legislators who passed HB7 – who understands all of the proposed changes to the constitution.”

BISC Analysis: The Devil is in the Details: Despite Amendment 2’s ballot language being only 77 words long, the true length of the measure comes to a total of 115 pages. Which begs the question: What isn’t being said? The legal challenge argues that the highlighted positives in the ballot language bely other aspects of concern. In other words: “None of the unappealing changes are included. The ballot language is all dessert, no vegetables.” 

BISC is tracking a number of potential referred constitutional amendments across the country that feature selective ballot language likely intended to mask unsavory proposals. Take for example Missouri’s Senate Joint Resolution 60. Its drafted ballot language highlights a foreign spending prohibition and a ban on lawmakers accepting gifts from lobbyists before mentioning the increased vote threshold that would require both a statewide majority support and majority support in a majority of congressional districts. Additionally, the ballot language proposes banning legislators from repealing voter-approved laws — but makes zero mention of its exception for legislative repeals of voter-approved constitutional amendments (like 2024’s abortion rights Amendment 3, which anti-abortion legislators are currently attempting to repeal). As the saying goes, the devil is in the details and BISC is committed to uncovering attempts by lawmakers and others to deceive voters at the ballot box by burying dangerous proposals in the fine print.

Updates to 2024 Ballot Measures

Issue: Economic Justice

    • Missouri Proposition A: Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave (CI)
      • Legislative Challenge: The House Commerce Committee has recommended a bill of its own making in order to attack the voter-approved Prop. A. HB 958, which combines and replaces other anti-Prop A bills, would push the $15/hour minimum wage increase from 2026 to 2028, remove the ability to raise it in the future to keep up with the cost of living, and remove altogether the ability of Missouri workers to earn paid sick leave. The bill has passed out of that committee along party lines and will next head to the House floor for debate.

Issue: Criminal Legal System

    • Arizona Proposition 314: Immigration and Border Law Enforcement (LR)
      • Potential Legal Challenge: Republican lawmakers have proposed House Bill 2606, which would allocate $50 million from the state’s general fund to the Department of Public Safety to implement the anti-immigration measure. However, this approach may trigger a lawsuit, as Arizona’s constitution  prohibits using the state’s general fund to pay for increased costs from ballot measures. Should the funding plan move forward, it’s possible a legal challenge would be mounted on grounds of constitutionality. 
      • Legislative Challenge: Meanwhile, competing immigration measures have emerged in the legislature. Democrats’ “Immigration Trust Act” would prohibit law enforcement from questioning or arresting people solely based on immigration status suspicions, while Republicans’ “Arizona ICE Act” would require law enforcement to enter into 287(g) agreements with federal authorities like ICE. 
      • Note: The proposition itself is modeled after a similar Texas law currently being challenged in court; if that law is deemed unconstitutional, Proposition 314 would become moot. That case is currently under consideration of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals but is expected to go as far as the U.S. Supreme Court. 

In Case You Missed It

BISC’s Resource Library: Our Partner Portal Resource Library houses ballot measure information ranging from campaign tools, templates, and past campaign materials (Values, MOUS, RFPs, etc.) —  to campaign debriefs and memos highlighting best practices. This library is a unique resource that can help campaigns and organizations build strategies and operationalize racial equity. To request access to the library, please email [email protected]