Repeal of Missouri redistricting plan clears hurdle despite concerns of key Republican
A Missouri House committee signed off Monday on legislation aimed at repealing voter-approved redistricting, despite warnings from the committee chairman that the GOP plan will likely be soundly rejected by voters.
Rep. Rocky Miller, a Republican from Lake Ozark and chairman of the House rules committee, voted in favor of approving legislation that would ask voters later to repeal a constitutional amendment that established a new process for drawing legislative districts in Missouri.
The amendment, approved in 2018 by 62 percent of Missouri voters, calls for a nonpartisan state demographer to draw maps with a goal for districts to be as competitive as possible. Republicans have worked to repeal the changes almost from the moment they were approved, arguing that they are a Democratic power grab.
Miller said Monday shortly before the committee signed off on repeal legislation that he was told by the state GOP that it contained errors that needed to be corrected, but doing so would mean sending it back to the Senate for another vote.
Democrats would surely filibuster, and with the session ending for the year on Friday at 6 p.m., sending it back to the Senate “would be a death sentence.”
“Here’s my prediction,” Miller said. “This will go down in flames if it goes on the ballot. This will not pass at all. This will be as bad as right to work.”
A right-to-work law, which allows employees in unionized workplaces to opt out of paying unions for the cost of being represented, was approved by the Republican-dominated legislature in 2017 and reversed by voters the following year.
Miller did not specify what errors he believes need to be corrected with the redistricting bill, and the Missouri GOP could not be immediately reached for comment.
The bill is now eligible for debate by the full House. If it is approved as is, it will go on the statewide ballot later this year. If it is amended, it must be approved again by the Senate.
