Hundreds of people gathered at the Missouri Capitol on Wednesday for a “Stand Up, Fight Back” rally, protesting what they say is “legislative interference with the will of Missouri voters.”
Among them was Bill Thompson with the Missouri Workers Center.
He told Missourinet that lawmakers crossed a line when they reversed voter approved paid sick leave.
“Something passes with 58% of the vote…it’s not fair to the people of Missouri to just go in and do what they want with what we’ve just passed,” said Thompson. “Redacting the sick leave was a large injury to working people here in Missouri.”
LaTonya Sullivan, a Kansas City-area healthcare worker, said she wanted to bring attention to several things.
“My main focus is getting back our unpaid sick time,” said Sullivan. “We voted for it, we won it, and we deserve it. My other focus was they took away our congressional seat in Kansas City, and we want our seat back. So, we just want a fair map.”
GOP leaders say the redrawn map simply updates outdated boundaries.
Critics counter it was designed to weaken Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City Democrat-heavy district.
Marie Carlson, with Abortion Action Missouri, told Missourinet that while she doesn’t have children, she wants lawmakers to respect people’s choices.
“I have a friend whose daughter is so terrified of getting pregnant in the state of Missouri that she moved to Colorado,” said Carlson. “I have other friends who are considering moving because they can’t get the kind of care that they need.”
Nearly 20 organizations from across Missouri took part in the rally, and organizers estimate about 1,000 people packed the Capitol to protest.
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