Kander approves two petitions for circulation

The Missouri Roundtable for Life can begin asking Missouri voters to sign its two petitions proposing two changes in the state's constitution.

One petition, only one page long, would remove what many know as the "Blaine Amendment" from the present constitution - the language that currently makes it illegal to use public funds for the direct benefit of parochial or private schools and institutions.

The other amendment has nine pages of text, proposing campaign contribution limits.

The full text of both proposed amendments is available through links on the secretary of state's website, www.sos.mo.gov/elections/.

The Roundtable for Life and its supporters have until next May 4 to gather the signatures of registered Missouri voters equal to 8 percent of the total vote in the last (2012) governor's election, in each of at least six of Missouri's eight congressional districts, and submit them to Kander's office.

Those petitions then will be given to county election officials to determine the validity of the signatures and, if those signatures are verified, the issues would be placed on the Nov. 4, 2014, general election ballot.