Court OKs right-to-work ballot rundowns

Willard Weider signs a petition Saturday, June 10, 2017 at the Central Missouri Carpenters Training Center to place a referendum on the ballot calling the right-to-work law into question.
Willard Weider signs a petition Saturday, June 10, 2017 at the Central Missouri Carpenters Training Center to place a referendum on the ballot calling the right-to-work law into question.

A state appeals court overturned a Cole County judge's ruling Tuesday in a case that challenged the legality of language used in initiatives aiming to repeal Missouri's new right-to-work law.

The Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals rejected claims by three plaintiffs that eight initiative petitions filed with the Missouri Secretary of State's Office used unfair language. The initiatives seek to place a consitutional amendment before voters which effectively would repeal Missouri's new right-to-work law.

The appeals court left intact two claims by the plaintiffs and made minor changes to two initiatives.

Mike Louis, president of the Jefferson City-based chapter of the Missouri AFL-CIO union, filed eight initiative petitions in mid-December with then-Secretary of State Jason Kander. Louis later filed two additional petitions. Kander approved the initiatives shortly before leaving office Jan. 9.

Three plaintiffs, including a Kansas City nurse and a Kansas City police officer, filed 11 separate lawsuits Jan. 19 against Louis alleging procedural violations and that the summary statements on the initiatives were insufficient.

Gov. Eric Greitens signed Missouri's right-to-work law (Senate Bill 19) in February, allowing unions to continue representing workers but provides employees the ability to opt out of paying union dues.

Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled in March that all 10 initiatives used fair language but were inaccurate because the law passed after Kander approved the petitions to circulate.

The appeals court said in a 46-page ruling that language on the final two initiatives needed to be amended, but the language on the other eight initiatives could proceed.

"The circuit court erred in taking into account the effects of SB 19 in its review of the summary statements and drafting the amended summary statements," the ruling said.

The court acknowledged in the ruling this was a unique circumstance, noting Missouri has never faced a situation where the Legislature had enacted a law while the secretary of state simultaneously had drafted an initiative or referendum dealing with the same subject.

Still, the court said, it's unnecessary for voters to see language addressing SB 19 to understand what the proposed constitutional amendment would do.

"Although including additional information regarding the passage of SB 19 would give additional context and information to voters, all that is required is that the language fairly summarizes the proposal in a way that is impartial and does not deceive or mislead voters," the ruling says.

The court also rejected the plaintiffs' claims language used in the initiatives was unclear. While more specific language would be helpful, the court said, the broad language used by Kander effectively summarized the effect of the initiative and any new law created because of it.

The court did make minor changes to the final two initiatives submitted by Louis, finding the final two petitions omitted that strict scrutiny must be applied to challenges to employees' right to collectively bargain.

Opponents of the new right-to-work law got the win just five days after Cole County Circuit Judge Dan Green handed them a setback. Green ruled in a separate case a petition to create a referendum to repeal SB 19 cannot continue with its current language. The referendum repeal would halt implementation of the new law until after voters decide the matter in next year's November general election.

Green found in his ruling the summary of what would change in the referendum petition was insufficient, as it did not explicitly state the ballot measure is a referendum.

Green also cited poor grammar for declaring the referendum petition invalid in its current form.

Louis and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft appealed the ruling Monday.

"I campaigned on being a neutral referee of the election process, which includes initiative petitions and referendums," Ashcroft said in a statement. "I cannot and will not recant on my promises to the voters of the State of Missouri. (Both) cases will be decided by adjudication, not intimidation."

Approximately 90,000 signatures statewide must be gathered before the law takes effect Aug. 28 for the referendum to proceed. If that effort is unsuccessful, the initiative process gives opponents until May 6, 2018, to gather enough signatures to force a vote on right-to-work.