Ammendent 3: Vote No

[IfasehunReincarnated]

Dear Friends who vote in Missouri:

I have been working hard on a campaign called NO on Amendment 3. I consider it a terrible amendment, mostly because it cares more for new roads than it does for human beings. It is not well known to voters, who may easily be misled by both the ballot language, and by the proponent's campaign that stresses "NO TAX INCREASE!"

The organizations listed below have voted officially to oppose Amendment 3, because of its negative impact on all state programs that rely on General Revenue.

You've probably seen the billboards and signs at gasoline stations saying to vote yes on Amendment 3. The highway-building industry put this issue on the ballot through paid petition gatherers asking "do you want to fix our roads with no tax increase?" First of all, most of the money will NOT go for road maintenance, but for new construction. Second, A-3 won't directly increase our taxes, but will force us to live with cuts in education, healthcare, etc, or to require a tax increase to bring those programs back to their current levels. A reviving economy won't make up for the $187 million diversion of General Revenue to the highway budget as the highway industry had initially argued. After all, even state social services experience inflation. And A-3 will definitely NOT create a net increase in jobs. In fact, keeping this money in education and social services will save more jobs than will be created by moving the money to highway construction, because of the differences in wages and in the amounts of capital investment involved in each job setting.

The legislature will decide which programs will suffer cuts to make up for the $190 million diversion of general revenue funds that will occur if Amendment 3 passes. The bulk of those cuts will be split between education and social services, which make up about two- thirds of general revenue spending.

Amendment 3 is a complicated, far-reaching change in our state constitution. It gives an appointed commission total authority on how these tax moneys are used. There is no oversight by our elected legislators and no accountability to the public!

Organizations opposing Amendment 3 as of today:

Americans for Democratic Action, Missouri Chapter
Citizens for Missouri's Children Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St. LouisLeague of Women Voters of MissouriMental Health Association of Greater St. Louis
Metropolitan Congregations United (MCU), St. Louis
Missouri Association for Social Welfare (MASW)
Missouri Budget ProjectMissouri IMPACT
Missouri National Education Association
Missouri Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities
Missourians for Tax Justice
MOCARE (Missouri Childcare & Education Association)
National Council of Jewish Women, St. Louis Section
St. Louis Teachers & School Related Personnel Union, Local 420, AFT/AFL-CIO
Sierra Club, Ozark Chapter
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, St. Louis Chapter

If you have any questions about A-3, please call or email me (314-534-7089, janetrbecker@yahoo.com).

You can also find a flyer, the ballot language and actual bill, etc, on our website at http://home.earthlink.net/~martinps/MTJhome.html

Also, since our campaign budget of $6,000 can't match the highway industry's $600,000, we need to rely on people power. So if you agree to vote No on A-3, please forward this message to all your friends and family who are Missouri votersThanks so much!Janet Becker

http://www.insteadofwar.org