Across the country, Republican lawmakers have been working to undermine or altogether undo the will of the voters -- by making it harder to pass amendments and laws through citizen-led initiatives.
In #Missouri, the 2025 legislative session was dominated by Republican lawmakers trying to reverse two major measures that voters had put on the ballot and approved just months before;
one made #abortion in the state legal again, while the other created an employee #sickleave requirement.
GOP lawmakers in #Alaska and #Nebraska also have moved to roll back sick leave benefits that voters approved last year,
while legislators in #Arizona are pushing new restrictions on abortion access, despite voters six months ago approving protections
At the same time, Republican leaders in #Florida, #Utah, #Montana, #Arkansas, #Oklahoma, #Arizona, #Ohio, #NorthDakota and #SouthDakota have approved efforts to restrict citizen-led ballot initiatives or are considering measures to do so,
-- essentially trying to make it harder for voters to change laws outside legislatures.
In some cases, legislators aren’t just responding to measures that voters approved;
they’re acting shortly after citizen-led efforts failed but came too close for comfort,
such as an abortion-rights initiative in Florida,
which in November fell just short of the 60% of votes needed to pass
and loosen the state’s ban on the procedure.
https://www.propublica.org/article/red-state-ballot-initiatives-gop-republicans-florida-missouri
