JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Republican-controlled Missouri Legislature is set to deliver on a long-held GOP promise to make it harder to change the state constitution.

In particular, a measure offered up during the second extraordinary session of the year would make it significantly harder to change Missouri’s constitution through an initiative petition.

Currently, a simple majority of votes statewide is the threshold to change the constitution. Under the proposal that passed through the Missouri House, a change to the constitution via the ballot would require a majority of voters in each of the state’s eight congressional districts.

“We've had 60 constitutional changes that have happened in the last 20 years,” said the bill sponsor, State Rep. Ed Lewis, R-Moberly. “Some of those initiatives have been very controversial.

“If you're going to change the Constitution, there should be broad representation across the state. You don't want one portion of the state in total disagreement with another portion of the state.”

Under Lewis’ bill, only ballot questions pertaining to changing Missouri’s constitution would have the stringent requirements to pass. Ballot initiatives that change state statutes, like statewide propositions, would still just require a simple majority statewide.

Democrats, however, say Republican efforts to change the initiative petition process is taking away the power of the voter.

“This is about rigging the process,” State Sen. Brian Williams, a Democrat from St. Louis County, said. “Making it difficult to get things on the ballot and ultimately preventing the people from being able to push forward policy ideas that would enhance their quality of life, simply because the legislature cannot figure out how to get it done on its own.”

The bill also has other reforms. Both initiative petition reform and the controversial redistricting plan could be voted out of the Senate on Friday and be on the governor’s desk later that day.