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EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 99
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR MOON.
5698S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
JOINT RESOLUTION
Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri, an amendment repealing sections 1, 21, 22, 23, and
39 of article III of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting five new sections in lieu
thereof relating to the powers of the legislature.
Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring therein:
That at the next general election to be held in the 1
state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday 2
in November, 2026, or at a special election to be called by 3
the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to 4
the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or 5
rejection, the following amendment to article III of the 6
Constitution of the state of Missouri:7
Section A. Sections 1, 21, 22, 23, and 39, article III, 1
Constitution of Missouri, are repealed and five new sections 2
adopted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 1, 21, 22, 23, 3
and 39, to read as follows:4
Section 1. The legislative power shall be vested in a 1
senate and house of representatives to be styled "The 2
General Assembly of the State of Missouri[.]", subject to 3
the limitations on the abuse of that power as enumerated in 4
this constitution. Any citizen of this state shall have 5
standing to bring an action alleging violation of those 6
limitations and shall be awarded appropriate attorney's fees 7
as determined by the court if such action is successful. 8
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Section 21. 1. The people of this state declare that 1
sections 21, 22, and 23 of this article are to ensure a 2
transparent, orderly legislative procedure and prevent the 3
passage of legislation that does not truly have the support 4
of a majority of their representatives by prohibiting the 5
practice of combining a number of unrelated amendments in a 6
bill. These sections also serve to defeat surprise within 7
the legislative process by prohibiting a clever legislator 8
from taking advantage of his or her unsuspecting colleagues 9
by surreptitiously inserting unrelated amendments into the 10
body of a pending bill or changing a bill's purpose midway 11
through the legislative process. And these sections are 12
intended to ensure that the people of this state and their 13
representatives are fairly apprised of the legislative 14
process and have a means by which they can hold their 15
elected representatives accountable as they make the laws 16
that affect their lives and liberty. 17
2. The style of the laws of this state shall be: "Be 18
it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, 19
as follows." No law shall be passed except by bill, and no 20
bill shall be so amended in its passage through either house 21
as to change its original purpose. 22
3. The original purpose and subject of a bill shall be 23
established by the bill's earliest title and contents at the 24
time the bill is introduced. No substantive change to a 25
bill's earliest title shall be permitted. Changes to 26
anything other than those dealing with chapter and sectional 27
references shall be considered substantive. 28
4. Bills may originate in either house and may be 29
amended or rejected by the other. Every bill shall be read 30
by title on three different days in each house. 31
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Section 22. 1. Every bill shall be referred to a 1
committee of the house in which it is pending within 2
fourteen calendar days of the introduction of the bill. 3
2. After it has been referred to a committee, [one- 4
third] a majority of the elected members of the respective 5
houses shall have power to relieve a committee of further 6
consideration of a bill and place it on the calendar [for 7
consideration] where it shall be considered by the whole 8
house within two legislative days. Each committee shall 9
keep such record of its proceedings as is required by rule 10
of the respective houses and this record and the recorded 11
vote of the members of the committee shall be filed with all 12
reports on bills. 13
3. Each house of the general assembly may provide by 14
rule for such committees of that house as it deems necessary 15
to meet to consider bills or to perform any other necessary 16
legislative function during the interim between the session 17
ending on the thirtieth day of May and the session 18
commencing on the first Wednesday after the first Monday of 19
January. 20
4. After any bill has been placed on a legislative 21
calendar, a majority of the elected members of the 22
respective houses shall, by petition, have the power to 23
order it to be considered by the whole house within the time 24
frame specified in the petition. 25
Section 23. No bill shall contain more than one 1
subject which shall be clearly expressed in [its] a title, 2
except bills enacted under the third exception in section 37 3
of this article and general appropriation bills, which may 4
embrace the various subjects and accounts for which moneys 5
are appropriated. 6
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Section 39. The general assembly shall not have power, 1
whether there is a public benefit or purpose or not: 2
(1) To give or lend or to authorize the giving or 3
lending of the credit of the state in aid or to any person, 4
association, municipal or other corporation; 5
(2) To pledge the credit of the state for the payment 6
of the liabilities, present or prospective, of any 7
individual, association, municipal or other corporation; 8
(3) To grant or to authorize any county or municipal 9
authority to grant any extra compensation, fee or allowance 10
to a public officer, agent, servant or contractor after 11
service has been rendered or a contract has been entered 12
into and performed in whole or in part; 13
(4) To pay or to authorize the payment of any claim 14
against the state or any county or municipal corporation of 15
the state under any agreement or contract made without 16
express authority of law; 17
(5) To release or extinguish or to authorize the 18
releasing or extinguishing, in whole or in part, without 19
consideration, the indebtedness, liability or obligation of 20
any corporation or individual due this state or any county 21
or municipal corporation; 22
(6) To make any appropriation of money for the payment, 23
or on account of or in recognition of any claims audited or 24
that may hereafter be audited by virtue of an act entitled 25
"An Act to Audit and Adjust the War Debts of the State," 26
approved March 19, 1874, or any act of a similar nature, 27
until the claim so audited shall have been presented to and 28
paid by the government of the United States to this state; 29
(7) To act, when convened in extra session by the 30
governor, upon subjects other than those specially 31
designated in the proclamation calling said session or 32
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recommended by special message to the general assembly after 33
the convening of an extra session; 34
(8) To remove the seat of government from the City of 35
Jefferson; 36
(9) Except as otherwise provided in section 39(b), 37
section 39(c), section 39(e) or section 39(f) of this 38
article, to authorize lotteries or gift enterprises for any 39
purpose, and shall enact laws to prohibit the sale of 40
lottery or gift enterprise tickets, or tickets in any scheme 41
in the nature of a lottery; except that, nothing in this 42
section shall be so construed as to prevent or prohibit 43
citizens of this state from participating in games or 44
contests of skill or chance where no consideration is 45
required to be given for the privilege or opportunity of 46
participating or for receiving the award or prize and the 47
term "lottery or gift enterprise" shall mean only those 48
games or contests whereby money or something of value is 49
exchanged directly for the ticket or chance to participate 50
in the game or contest. The general assembly may, by law, 51
provide standards and conditions to regulate or guarantee 52
the awarding of prizes provided for in such games or 53
contests under the provision of this subdivision; 54
(10) To impose a use or sales tax upon the use, 55
purchase or acquisition of property paid for out of the 56
funds of any county or other political subdivision. 57
Section B. Pursuant to chapter 116, and other 1
applicable constitutional provisions and laws of this state 2
allowing the general assembly to adopt ballot language for 3
the submission of this joint resolution to the voters of 4
this state, the official summary statement of this 5
resolution shall be as follows: 6
"Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: 7
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● Give citizens standing to sue for violation 8
of Constitutional limitations on the Legislature; 9
● Prohibit changes in a legislative bill's 10
title and original purpose; 11
● Ensure that legislators are afforded the 12
opportunity to introduce bills that can be 13
considered in a timely manner?". 14
✓