HJR 3 Missouri House · 2025 2nd Extraordinary Session

Creates the "Protect Missouri Voters" amendment

HJR 3 proposes a constitutional amendment titled "Protect Missouri Voters" to restrict foreign influence in statewide ballot measures. It would ban contributions from foreign adversaries (as defined by U.S. designations) and foreign nationals to support or oppose such measures, with penalties including fines, imprisonment, or triple the illegal contribution amount. The amendment also criminalizes petition signature fraud, requires public hearings before initiative petitions are submitted, mandates majority approval in each congressional district for constitutional initiatives, and ensures the full text of initiatives is provided to voters with their ballots. If approved by voters, these provisions would become part of Missouri's constitution.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Sep 2025
Committee Review
Sep 2025
House Passage
Sep 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Sep 3, 2025 Last action Sep 12, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

House Committee Substitute Perfected · 5 edits
MODERATE
The bill was perfected with minor formatting changes and a reorganization of Section 54. The substantive policy content regarding foreign adversary contributions and petition signature fraud remains largely unchanged, though the definition structure was slightly modified for clarity.
Scope change
No substantive change to the bill's scope or applicability; the changes are primarily organizational and definitional formatting.
DEFINITION

The definition of 'statewide ballot measure' was moved to a new paragraph 3 and clarified to reference specific constitutional articles.

The definition of 'foreign adversary' was reorganized with clearer lettered sub-points (a and b) for better readability.

A new definition for 'foreign national' was added to clarify who is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

ENFORCEMENT

Penalty language was slightly reworded to specify 'up to one year or a fine of up to one thousand dollars' for clarity.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting and numbering adjustments were made throughout the section for consistency.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
38
Key actions
12
Committee
14
Sep 12, 2025
Introduced
Constitutional Objection Filed (H)
lower
Sep 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
Truly Agreed To and Finally Passed - AYES: 21 NOES: 11 PRESENT: 0
lower
Sep 12, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported Do Pass (S)
upper
Sep 11, 2025
Committee
Referred: Fiscal Oversight(S)
upper
Sep 11, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported Do Pass (S)
upper
Sep 11, 2025
Committee
Second read and referred: Local Government, Elections and Pensions(S)
upper
Sep 10, 2025
Committee
Public Hearing Scheduled (S) - Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee, Thursday, September 11, 2025, 10:00 a.m., Senate Committee Room 2, pending referral of HB 1 and HCS HJR 3.
upper
Sep 9, 2025
Lower · Passed
Third Read and Passed (H) - AYES: 98 NOES: 58 PRESENT: 0
lower
Sep 9, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported Do Pass (H) - AYES: 6 NOES: 2 PRESENT: 0
lower
Sep 9, 2025
Lower · Passed
Voted Do Pass (H)
lower
Sep 8, 2025
Committee
Referred: Fiscal Review(H)
lower
Sep 8, 2025
Lower · Passed
Perfected with Amendments (H) - HA 1, adopted - AYES: 96 NOES: 55 PRESENT: 0
lower
Sep 8, 2025
Lower · Passed
HCS Adopted (H)
lower
Sep 5, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported Do Pass (H) - AYES: 7 NOES: 3 PRESENT: 0
lower
Sep 5, 2025
Lower · Passed
Voted Do Pass (H)
lower
Sep 5, 2025
Committee
Referred: Rules - Legislative(H)
lower
Sep 4, 2025
Lower · Passed
HCS Reported Do Pass (H) - AYES: 10 NOES: 5 PRESENT: 0
lower
Sep 4, 2025
Lower · Passed
HCS Voted Do Pass (H)
lower
Sep 4, 2025
Committee
Referred: Elections(H)
lower
Sep 3, 2025
Introduced
Introduced and Read First Time (H)
lower
1 primary · 4 co-sponsors

Sponsors