Referendums Missouri voters will see on Tuesday's primary ballot

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri voters will see two different ballot initiatives when they head to the polls Tuesday: Amendment 1 and Amendment 4. 

Amendment 4 will look familiar to voters; the state's highest court said voters were misled on the 2022 ballot, throwing out election results. If approved Tuesday, it would require Kansas City to increase funding for its police department. 

Amendment 1 comes as 94 of the state's 114 counties are in a child care desert. This referendum asks voters if they want to give child care facilities a special property tax break. 

"What I've heard is from parents, from child care facilities and even from employers who say this is a big drag on our ability to find employees," Sen. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit said. 

The hope is Amendment 1 will be an incentive to open more facilities and give relief to already existing providers. 

"The number one reason people don't go to work is because of adequate child care, we don't have it in the state of Missouri," Gov. Mike Parson said. "Our revenues are up; we have a $1.9 billion excess fund that I'm going to turn over to the next governor. You know this is a number one priority, we've got the funding, let's do what we can to help the people of this state that need child care."

Amendment 1 on the Aug. 6 primary ballot asks: 

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to allow places where individuals, corporations, organiza...