Missouri governor signs law repealing provisions of 2024 paid sick leave and minimum wage ballot initiative
On July 10, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) signed House Bill 567 (HB 567), using legislative alternation to repeal provisions of a 2024 citizen initiative that established paid sick leave requirements and a previously existing provision that tied future minimum wage increases to inflation.
Legislative alteration is when lawmakers repeal or amend citizen initiatives after voters approve them. At the statewide level, it applies only to initiated state statutes since legislatures cannot change initiated constitutional amendments without voter approval.
Missouri is one of 11 states with the initiative power and no restrictions on when or how legislators can amend or repeal voter-approved initiated statutes. Nebraska requires a two-thirds vote to amend or repeal initiated state statutes. Alaska lawmakers can repeal initiated state statutes after two years or amend them at any time with a simple majority vote.
States passed 27 bills on environmental, social, and governance investing this year
So far this year, 13 states have passed 27 bills supporting or opposing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. States passed 34 such laws in 2024, 43 in 2023, 17 in 2022, 11 in 2021, and three in 2020.
ESG investing is an asset management approach that considers environmental, social issues, and corporate governance practices. It’s a type of stakeholder investing that says shareholder returns should not be the only goal.
Of the 27 bills passed in 2025, 21 opposed ESG in Republican trifectas, and three supported ESG in Democratic trifectas. Divided governments passed the remaining three bills.
A look at political party ballot access requirements and Elon Musk’s America Party
On July 5, Tesla and SpaceX CEO and former Trump administration senior advisor Elon Musk announced he would form a new political party named the America Party. In Wednesday’s Brew, we looked at some of the different requirements that political parties must meet to gain ballot access in the U.S.
Rules governing ballot access for political parties are set at the state level and vary widely. Once a party achieves ballot-qualified status, it can nominate candidates to the ballot rather than its candidates independently gaining ballot access.
Most states use at least one of the following methods for political party ballot qualification:
- Petition: Party must file a petition with a certain number or percentage of valid signatures
- Voter registration threshold: Party must register a certain number or percentage of voters in the state
- Vote threshold: A candidate affiliated with the party must qualify for the ballot and receive a certain percentage of the vote for the party to be qualified for subsequent elections