To the members of this committee.

My name is Pat Holland. I live in Clever Missouri and since I have not received a call back from my Senator that I reached out to to talk about the ballot initiative legislation, I appreciate the chance to have my statement read to the committee today because I could not change my Wednesday schedule on 24 hour notice of this hearing in order to attend.

I oppose HJR79 and any other legislation that will impose further tightening restrictions of ballot initiatives for the people to address issues important to them in this State. I understand the reason behind these legislative initiatives but I think better solutions are available.

I have reached out to Representatives about ideas on how to achieve the same goals stated by representatives who voted to pass HJR79. In a one hour meeting with our organization, we had come up with alternative approaches to solve these issues but no one in the general assembly that we reached out to seems to want to hear them or talk about them. For this reason alone I suggest all bills having to do with ballot initiatives be killed this year and we can revisit them next year after the people of Missouri are aware of the potential problem and have a say in the potential solutions. Please stop telling the people of Missouri you have the answer because your proposed solutions do not sit well with liberty minded Missourians.

To those who are afraid of George Soros or Michael Bloomberg having undue influence in this state due to ballot initiative proposals I say this:

Are you not also afraid of Federal Government influence on Missouri legislation through organizations such as the Sheriff’s Association, the Missouri Police Chief’s Association and others that receive funds from the federal government and lobby Missouri General Assembly members for their special interests? This is a giant elephant in the room, no one wants to talk about this. These organizations and others are trying to do away with Missouri’s new SAPA law and they do receive federal funds and repackage them into grants. This should be discussed as passionately and as completely as the threat from the Bloomberg and Soros types. All current legislation this year to tighten ballot initiatives requirements do not address these problems with federal influence.

When I hear a Senator or Representative say that Missouri is lucky to have a ballot initiative access for the citizens and we should not complain about making the requirements more difficult to obtain, I literally cringe. It sounds like a scripted talking point. It sounds like I should be happy with a reduced freedom, a piece of liberty being taken away for a perceived threat. It sounds like someone is taking away my meal but leaving me some crumbs to eat. It feels like when the federal government nibbles away at my freedoms and expects me to be happy with increasing federal government power and restricting my freedoms for my own safety. Benjamin Franklin had something to say about this. It was a warning about the increasing of government’s power over the people. “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety” It did not escape my attention that the General Assembly has not tightened up the requirements for itself to get ballot initiatives on the ballot. This is hypocrisy. And it sure looks like you want to absorb some of the power from the people of Missouri into the General Assembly. This is the public perception of the bills for tightening requirements for ballot initiatives.

If your concerns were the medicaid expansion bill, I’ll let you know that was a concern of mine too. We all failed to educate the people about what that ballot initiative represented. The general assembly failed, the media failed, the grass roots failed. We all failed. That was Everyone's fault. Why punish the people of Missouri for making a bad choice when they truly didn’t understand the choice they were making in the first place? If we take that position, it would be best for Missouri politicians to announce they need to make all decisions for the people because the people are are too dumb or lazy to investigate or understand what we are voting for. We can learn from this past mistake by making an effort to educate and communicate information about all future ballot initiatives and make sure ballot initiatives are clearly worded with no ambiguous language so folks can understand what they are voting for.

In closing, I would like to say why most Representatives and Senators have received more phone calls, emails and visits in their offices in the past several years. The reason is simple. Grassroots organizations are popping up all over the State of Missouri. It started with the Second Amendment Preservation Act and accelerated with covid lock downs and restrictions. The General Assembly is being watched more closely than it has before. People in Missouri want more freedom, not less freedom. We need to stop competing with states that have less freedom and compete with states that have more freedom. This is where good ideas begin. It’s a good idea to include the people of Missouri in deciding the direction we go in and not tell them what needs to be done to protect them from perceived threats to our Constitution, whether internal or external. Please place your trust in the people of Missouri to do the right thing, as they have placed their trust in you to do the right thing. Please remember who you work for, and your oaths of office. May God bless you all.