charlie.keegan@kshb.com

Members of the Missouri House of Representatives passed a resolution Monday making it harder to change the states constitution through the initiative petition process.

House Joint Resolution 3 passed with 96 yes votes and 55 no votes. It raises the threshold an initiative petition needs to pass. Instead of receiving a statewide simple majority, the bill requires petitions to receive a majority in each of the states eight congressional districts.

If its something where theres broad consensus across the state, 50 percent in each congressional district would not be a threshold that is unattainable, argued State Rep. Ed Lewis, a Republican from Moberly.

The new requirement applies to constitutional amendments only, not changes to state statutes. Legalizing marijuana

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