Don’t enshrine bigotry in the Missouri Constitution with ‘religious liberty’ bill

Kansas City’s business leaders used a full-court press Wednesday to lobby against a shameful discrimination bill in the Missouri General Assembly.

Top officials of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, VisitKC and other groups were in Jefferson City, encouraging House members to reject Senate Joint Resolution 39.

The bill would amend the Missouri Constitution to allow discrimination against same-sex couples in providing services or goods for marriage and other celebrations. Too many church officials are misleadingly peddling this as a matter of religious freedom.

The measure would have a huge negative impact on the economies of Kansas City, St. Louis and cities across the state. It would make it tougher to recruit and keep talented workforces in the Kansas City area. And it could cause conventions and sporting contests to pull out of scheduled events here.

Businesses have excellent reasons to warn politicians about the potential harm lawmakers could do the state’s future by passing the legislation. Large corporations have made similar arguments in Indiana and Georgia, which has helped kill bills in those states.

But the kind of schmoozing that’s occurring in Jefferson City can only go so far.

Here are two of the essential concerns floating around SJR39.

▪ Will House leaders bottle up the legislation so it doesn’t reach the floor?

If that happens, the Senate-passed version would die and Missouri voters would not get a chance to approve something that would enshrine discrimination into the state constitution. That’s the best possible outcome.

However, House Speaker Todd Richardson, a Poplar Bluff Republican, recently said his members “will take a hard look” at the bill. That’s nowhere close to the firm “no” that detractors of SJR39 want.

The bill’s supporters — especially those on the Republican side of the aisle in the GOP-dominated legislature — will continue to pressure Richardson to let it slide through.

▪ If SJR39 comes to a House vote, will enough rural lawmakers join members from Kansas City and St. Louis in voting against putting it on the ballot?

Church groups in outstate Missouri are pushing their lawmakers to back a bill that supposedly promotes “religious freedom.”

The critics of SJR39 must reach out to rural House members and have frank discussions with them about the potential harm that could be done to the economies in smaller towns and counties.

The Kansas City and St. Louis regions would be most adversely affected by SJR39.

But rural Missouri would suffer as well. Companies that locate in big cities often buy materials or get services from businesses and people in smaller cities across the Show-Me State. SJR39 would imperil that kind of economic relationship.

In addition, if a big chill hits big-city economies, that would adversely affect the amount of tax revenue generated to use in Missouri to pave roads, repair bridges, provide social services and support public safety forces.

SJR39 is a loser for Kansas City — and for Maryville, Hannibal, Branson, Poplar Bluff, Cape Girardeau, Camdenton, Macon and dozens of other smaller cities across Missouri.

That point is among those expected to be hammered home today during a rally to oppose SJR39 at the Capitol.

House members should not heed advice from those who want “the voters to decide.”

Putting SJR39 on the ballot would be a stain on Missouri, immediately making it a less welcoming place for many people to live and work. Months-long pro and con campaigns on such an ugly bill would focus a torrent of national negative attention on the state.

Missourians must rise above that. We are better than SJR39 and the bigotry it would place in the state constitution.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 3:30 PM with the headline "Don’t enshrine bigotry in the Missouri Constitution with ‘religious liberty’ bill."