A four-hour filibuster has been the final nail in the coffin for Missouri agriculture’s efforts to put a possibly insurmountable hurdle in front of the puppy mill initiative.
Farming interests had hoped to pass a constitutional amendment requiring any petition initiative regulating animal agriculture to have to get a two-thirds majority. The emergency effort in the legislature gained momentum after a group filed petitions seeking more regulations on dog and cat breeders.
But three Senators have talked the proposal to death. Kansas City Senator Jolie Justus says agriculture should not be given favored protected status, that the legislature should require two-thirds approval of any petition proposal that makes it to the ballot.
She an others thought they had a deal to let the resolution on the puppy mill initiative pass if the legislature agreed to pass another proposal req2uiring two-thirds on all such initiatives. But the deal fell apart. Justus and allies wouldn’t give up their position. Neither would agricultural interests give up theirs, a formula for failure on both sides just before midnight last night.
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