Victories

On August 4, Missouri voters overwhelmingly rejected Amendments 4 and 5, with nearly 80% of voters saying NO to both measures. Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action worked alongside partners across the state to educate voters about what was at stake and mobilize Missourians to make their voices heard.
Amendment 4 would have allowed the state legislature to restrict or eliminate local minimum wage and paid sick leave protections, while Amendment 5 would have opened the door to eliminating Missouri’s individual income tax and replacing that revenue through higher taxes on goods and services. Voters rejected both proposals by historic margins, sending a clear message that Missouri’s working families should not be asked to give up hard-won protections or shoulder a greater share of the tax burden.

On May 1, 2024, Missouri workers and allies submitted more than 210,000 signatures from every Missouri county to put Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages on the 2024 ballot. This initiative allows workers to earn up to seven days paid sick time and raise the wage to $15/hour by 2026. Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action and member organizations kicked off the grassroots signature gathering campaign in April 2023. MOJWJ engaged nearly 500 leaders to gather more than 100,000 signatures and continues to lead the grassroots movement for an economy and democracy that works for working people.

Since as far back as 2005, Missouri has had some of the lowest eligibility rates for Medicaid in the nation. Our low rates have left hundreds of thousands of families without a lifeline in times of vulnerability, leading to unnecessary suffering and tragic early loss of life. Tired of waiting on politicians to do the right thing, Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action leaders collected more than 40,000 signatures to put Amendment 2 to expand Medicaid on the ballot

On August 4th, Missouri became the 39th state to expand our medicaid program, a decade later than we should have and 15 years after it was cut. As a result, billions of dollars will flow back into Missouri’s economy, protecting Missouri rural hospitals and healthcare providers and most importantly, an estimated 230,000 Missourians will again have access to important health insurance

Politicians in Jefferson City attempted to gut the power of working people and our right to come together in union. After passing a “right-to-work” law, our labor partners quickly led a campaign to organize a citizens’ veto to defeat what was placed on the ballot as Proposition A.
Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action was the leading community partner in this fight and led efforts educating our partners and the public about the dangers of “right-to-work” laws, particularly its racist history and disproportionate impact on women and workers of color; nearly 200 organizations publicly opposed Prop A. When the dust settled on August 7th, Prop A was defeated by a historic 2:1 margin, eclipsing even the legendary defeat of Right to Work here in 1978.

For years Missouri’s state legislature has been plagued with unresponsive politicians, horribly gerrymandered legislative districts and virtually unchecked corporate influence. To fix this Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action led a broad coalition in qualifying and then passing the Clean Missouri initiative.
Our leaders gathered more than 80,000 signatures to put Amendment 1 on the ballot. Despite racist attacks and divisive campaign tactics from our opponents, more than 62% of Missouri voters approved this sweeping reform of state legislative elections by lowering campaign finance limits, effectively eliminating lobbyist gifts, making the state legislature more transparent, closing the legislature to lobbyist revolving door, and stopping rigged, gerrymandered maps.

Going into 2018, Missouri’s minimum wage stood at a paltry $7.85 per hour. That’s just $314 per week, and just over $16,000 per year—if you are lucky enough to work 40 hours a week. Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action gathered more than 60,000 signatures to put Proposition B on the ballot and raise Missouri’s minimum wage to $12-an-hour by 2023. Missourians voted overwhelmingly on November 6th to hard reward work with better pay, passing Proposition B with 62.5% of the vote.

We led efforts to engage voters across the state with our partners to give Missourians a much-need raise. More than 75% of Missouri voted yes to raise Missouri’s minimum wage to $6.50-an-hour with annual raises to keep up with inflation.

We knew we needed a more deliberate and powerful tool for year round voter engagement and accountability with politicians and issue campaigns.