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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE JOINT
RESOLUTION NO. 178
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE MA YHEW .
6793H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
JOINT RESOLUTION
Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri an amendment to Article III of the Constitution
of Missouri, by adopting one new section relating to funding of local governments.
Be it r esolved by the House of Repr esentatives, the Senate concurring ther ein:
That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on T uesday next
2 following the first Monday in November , 2026, or at a special election to be called by the
3 governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state, for
4 adoption or rejection, the following amendment to Article III of the Constitution of the state
5 of Missouri:
Section A. Article III, Constitution of Missouri, is amended by adopting one new
2 section, to be known as Section 54, to read as follows:
Section 54. 1. Any bill intro duced in the general assembly that cr eates or
2 modifies a local mandate shall include a local government fiscal impact statement prior
3 to committee consideration.
4 2. The fiscal impact statement requ ired by subsection 1 of this section shall:
5 (1) Identify all categories of local governments affected;
6 (2) Estimate anticipated costs for each affected type of local government,
7 including administrative, staffing, operational, and compliance costs;
8 (3) Distinguish between one-time and ongoing costs; and
9 (4) Identify the source and sufficiency of any pro posed state funding or support.
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
10 3. No bill subject to this section shall be voted out of committee unless the fiscal
11 impact statement has been filed and made publicly available.
12 4. No local government shall be requ ired to implement or administer a local
13 mandate unless state funding has been made available to such local government for the
14 implementation or administration of the mandate.
15 5. If state funding is not appr opriated, insufficient, or not yet available to a
16 particular local government, implementation or administration of the mandate by the
17 local government shall be suspended until such funding becomes available. Suspension
18 of implementation under this section shall:
19 (1) Apply only to the affected local government;
20 (2) Not invalidate the underlying state law; and
21 (3) Not constitute noncompliance or violation by the local government.
22 6. Any state law req uiring local administration or enforcem ent shall include:
23 (1) Clear statutory definitions;
24 (2) Uniform forms, proced ures, or re porting requ irem ents, where applicable;
25 (3) Reasonable compliance timelines; and
26 (4) Identification of the state agency res ponsible for pr oviding guidance and
27 technical assistance.
28 7. A local government shall not be req uire d to implement or administer a
29 mandate until standards are issued and applicable state funding is available under the
30 pr ovisions of subsection 6 of this section.
✔
HJR 178 2