June - 19 - 2026
🏛️ Issue of the Week: August Ballot Amendment 5- Vote NO
TLDR: Too Long Didn’t Read Weekly Action Items (New Section!):
1) Check your voter registration NOW. The deadline to register for the August 4 Election is July 8. They have purged the election rolls, and if you don’t vote often, or have had a name or address change, you may not be registered. You can check your registration here: https://jcebmo.org/voter-information/registration/
2) Forward this email to people you care about in our district and ask them to check their registration.
3) Vote NO on Amendment 5!
Summary
The August ballot has been stacked with extreme amendments for the Missouri Constitution. The hope is that voters will not show up in a low turn-out August election, and the radical supermajority will consolidate their power on the backs of ordinary Missourians even more. We need to fight back.
This month, I’m discussing the Amendments that will appear on the August ballot. I hope you will use this newsletter to become informed and talk to your family, friends and neighbors so they can do the same. Please feel free to forward this email to them and encourage them to sign up for my weekly email.
This week, I’m addressing why we should all VOTE NO ON AMENDMENT 5- the Amendment That Will Raise Taxes While Cutting Services. I’ve written about this before- in fact it was my first “Issue of the Week” (March 26), because I couldn’t believe how foolish it was that we were discussing in our state. This week, I will address how they are trying to sell it politically- a tough thing to do since it’s a really bad thing for Missouri. Here is what you should know:
VOTE NO ON AMENDMENT 5 – The Tax Everything Bill:
Amendment 5 Will:
• Raise taxes and reduce services. The efficient, progressive income tax will shift taxes to expensive, regressive sales, use, and property and other taxes all while creating massive budget deficits forcing draconian cuts to the entire budget- including public education, law enforcement and senior services.
• Give unchecked power over the budget to the supermajority. It overrides the Hancock Amendment (passed in 1980) allowing tax increases without a vote for
the next 5 years, the Ban on Real Estate Transfer Taxes (passed in 2010) putting taxes back in play that make housing more expensive, and the Ban on Taxing Services (passed in 2016), opening up taxes on everything from child care to medical visits to haircuts.
• Not give us a path to prosperity- because there is NO PLAN. The math doesn’t add up- because they have no formula! They can’t tell us (the voters) how they will create necessary revenue to pay the bills and they can’t tell us where they will cut.
Official Ballot Language for Amendment 5 Can Be Found Here: https://www.sos.mo.gov/petitions/2026ballotmeasures
Key District 33 - How They Are Selling the Chaos to Us
You may have already seen expensive AI designed television ads with race cars claiming Missouri is behind Alaska and Tennessee in the economic race because they do not have an Income Tax. Both of these states have significantly different revenue sources and geographies that are not fair comparisons to Missouri. What is a more fair comparison is our neighbor Kansas. When they tried this just a few years ago, it almost drove them to bankruptcy AND public education and seniors took an incredible hit they have not recovered from.
You may have had someone knock on your door from the ironically named Americans for Prosperity. This national, special interest group has one goal- to eliminate the progressive income tax system that has been in place since 1913. They want to replace it with regressive, unstable sales taxes and tariffs that create a boom bust funding cycle in government to starve services that keep our economy stable. The canvassers are not like our volunteers- they are paid and tracked- like the cheap, desperate labor this group wants to see across America.
You may have seen mailers from Representatives Jon Patterson or Carolyn Caton promoting this Amendment as a way to cut your property taxes. Also not true- in fact, this bill will allow taxing authorities to increase property taxes even more- crippling an already stressed housing market. It’s why the normally conservative Association of Realtors is stepping in to work against this Amendment.
And finally, you are probably seeing slick social media posts full of slogans and false promises. Ask yourself, in a state where the last 20 years has seen us fall from the high middle of the pack in terms of education and economy to the bottom in almost every category, how are they going to cut taxes even further and deliver more to pull us out of the hole we are in?
The answer is: They are not. They are lying.
A Better Path Forward & Conclusion
Amendment 5 has to be defeated with a resounding NO Vote, or we will continue to transfer dollars from working people to a small number of very, very rich Missourians and people that don’t even live in our state but take advantage of our work force.
Since August is typically a low turnout election, it is critical that we turn out to vote at least as much as we would in a general election. We need to let our family, friends, and neighbors know that they need to vote NO ON AMENDMENT 5 on August 4 (with no excuse early voting starting July 21).
We need the folks of Missouri to become informed about all of these Amendments AND turn out to vote. If we don’t, a very small group of power brokers controlling our government will block voters out of their say in government for decades to come. I’m asking you to read these emails, pass them on and encourage people to show up to vote in August- we can’t wait until November.
Thank you for participating and fighting for Missouri.