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House Republicans frustrations with the Biden administrations education policies and embrace of the culture wars over education were on full display Tuesday when Education Secretary Miguel Cardona testified before the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

What color is your suit? asked Michigan representative Lisa McClain, a Republican, during a heated exchange. Im just trying to figure out if we can answer a question.

The nearly five-hour hearing, which became contentious at times, featured questions, talking points and discussion about a wide range of higher educationrelated topics from the administrations budget proposal to the influence of the Chinese government on American universities to student loan policies.

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This was Cardonas first appearance before the committee since Republicans took over the House.

Cardona repeatedly defended his departments work to improve the student loan system and help students recover from the pandemic, among other issues, echoing his press statements and comments at recent budget committee meetings. He also tried to steer clear of debates about culture war topics.

The choice we face now is whether were going to build on the common ground that we have to invest in our children or protect the broken status quo thats failed too many of our schools, Cardona said in his opening remarks. Now is not the time to break down in partisan or divisive culture wars.

North Carolina representative Virginia Foxx, the Republican who chairs the committee, outlined a series of concerns about the departments actions under President Biden in her opening remarks.

Mr. Secretary, I wish this hearing was an endorsement of your departments cooperation with our requests, so we could then proceed in good faith to the FY 2024 budget request, she said. Instead, your department has engaged in disingenuous and misleading actions while being minimally responsive to congressional oversight.

Virginia representative Bobby Scott, the committees ranking Democrat, and other Democrats used their time to show support for student loan forgiveness and other policies as well as to detail how the budget cuts proposed in the House debt-ceiling bill would affect the department and students.

Scott credited Cardona with helping to restore the departments commitment to supporting students and educators.

These investments would be transformational for our education system, Scott said of the departments budget proposal. Regrettably, my Republican colleagues have chosen to use their time in the majority to pursue policies that harm students and roll back the clock on our progress.

Foxx and other committee members voiced frustration repeatedly over the departments pace in responding to oversight and data requests.

Foxx said the department has largely ignored requests for documents and not yet responded to some of the committees 11 oversight letters. When the agency did respond, she said the responses were minimal and nearly all were late.

We will continue to press for the answers to the questions that were asking and the information that well need, she said.

Near the end of the hearing, after Foxx asked for a clear commitment to respond to the oversight letters, Cardona said the department will respond to letters and provide the information we can provide to you in good faith.

As the hearing progressed, Republicans increasingly criticized Cardona for what they said was dodging their questions as they grew more annoyed with the secretarys answers.

Ive been listening to you evade yes-or-no questions all day, said Representative Kevin Kiley, a California Republican.

Cardona defended his departments work in responding to oversight and Freedom of Information Act requests.

We provided over 2,400 pages of documents in this Congress alone, Cardona said. Weve responded to 45 letters this Congress alone. Were going to continue to take that very seriously.

Foxx questioned Cardona on whether the department was prepared to restart student loan payments and whether he would commit to no further extensions of the payment pause. Foxx asked the department last month for more details on its plan.

After the Supreme Court decision is made, we plan to start payments within 60days, he said, reiterating a commitment he made at a Senate budget hearing last week.

Democrats on the committee said they were concerned about the impact of resuming payments after a three-year pause and asked if the agency had the resources to pull off the operation.

Were geared up and ready to go, Cardona said.

However, if the administrations budget proposal is not supported, that would significantly impact the departments ability to serve borrowers, he said.

We look forward to making sure that you have the resources that you need, Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, said.

Throughout the hearing, Cardona repeatedly defended the departments student loan policies, including proposed reforms to the income-driven repayment program, which offers borrowers more generous terms to help them pay back their loans.

Income-driven repayment is going to open access to college for many more students, Cardona said. The goal is for them to pay their debt based on their income. As their income increases, their debt payment increases. Ive seen too many studentsintelligent students, students who have tremendous potentialrule out college because of fear of the cost Imagine the talent in this country thats going untapped.

Not all committee members liked Cardonas explanations.

You are implying that if you didnt go to college, your ability is untapped, Wisconsin representative Glenn Grothman, a Republican, said. I think thats a little bit snobby.

Cardona replied that some of his best and most influential teachers never went to college.

Kentucky representative James Comer, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, asked for more information about the departments enforcement of Section117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which requires colleges and universities to, twice a year, disclose all foreign gifts and contracts totaling $250,000 or more. Comer and others said they were concerned about the influence of the Chinese government on American universities and worried that the department was backtracking on efforts to require colleges to report the foreign gifts and contracts.

Cardona said the administration is improving the system for reporting and on track to make more filings public.

Weve got a problem with our universities, Comer said. According to multiple university presidents Ive spoken with, we have Chinese students that are stealing our intellectual property. They are essentially serving as spies for the Chinese Communist Party. We have certain universities that are receiving enormous anonymous gifts from the Chinese government. This is a concern for the House Oversight Committee.

Republicans also repeatedly criticized the proposed rule amending the TitleIX of the Education Amendments of 1972 regulations to prohibit blanket bans on transgender students participating in sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

We should be focusing on what the American people are asking us for, Cardona said. They are not asking for divisive comments. They are asking us to work together. Student safety is a primary one. Making sure that students are accepted in schools and acknowledged for who they are is critically important.

Some Democrats on the committee asked Cardona for more information about the departments plans to oversee the online program managersthe outside companies that colleges and universities contract with to run their online offerings. Several committee members have criticized the outside companies and want the department to do more to hold them accountable.

Cardona said that theres an increased demand for flexibility in higher education, but the department wants to ensure greater oversight as well.

So that it doesnt result in what weve experienced with borrower defense and having almost $14billion in loans discharged because students were taken advantage of by certain online, predatory practices, he said.

Florida representative Aaron Bean, a Republican, said that proprietary schools are under attack by the department and asked Cardona, Why are you at war with proprietary colleges?

I dont think were at war, Cardona said. Were fixing a broken system.

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House Republicans clash with Cardona over student loans, other ... - Inside Higher Ed

Opinion: It is both amazing and at times downright depressing what the Republican Legislature has accomplished this year. This, with the barest of majorities and a Democratic governor.

As the Arizona Legislature takes yet another vacation, let us pause to consider the many accomplishments of the Republicans who run the joint.

No, really.

Theres been a fair amount of focus on the 72 (and counting) times Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has infuriated Republicans by vetoing their various bad bills and a few good ones.

But consider what this, the most conservative Republican Legislature in my memory, has been able to accomplish with the barest of majorities and a Democrat on the Ninth Floor for the first time in 14 years.

Everybody (OK, well, me) expected the far-right Republicans who comprise the Arizona Freedom Caucus to be rolled over as the year wore on and sanity prevailed sometime in the wee hours of late June, right before a state government shutdown.

Everybody (OK, me again) expected the partys more pragmatic Republicans to team up with Hobbs and the Democrats to make a deal, as happened last year when Republican Gov. Doug Ducey was at the helm.

Instead, Republicans have stuck together all year, making Democratic legislators look largely irrelevant and on occasion, downright silly. (See: the tamale bill wherein 12 Democrats enthusiastically voted for the bill before they suddenly voted against it to spare Hobbs the embarrassment of a veto override.)

Consider the culture war bills. Not surprisingly, Republicans have spent endless hours doing battle with drag queens and transgender children and public school teachers who they apparently believe lay awake nights plotting to groom their children.

None of their bills will become law, thanks to Hobbs and her veto stamp. But thats almost better for Republican lawmakers as they prepare to hit the trail next year to try to preserve their slim majority.

The campaign pitch writes itself.

Consider teacher pay. Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, has been pushing a bill that would boost teacher pay by $10,000 over the next two years, catapulting Arizonas public schools out of the subbasement and onto the upper floors of teacher compensation in America.

Democrats oppose the bill, saying its a poorly written proposal that contains no guarantee of funding beyond 2025 and could lead to layoffs. Besides, they say, it wouldnt apply to other educators and school staff.

Democrats have pointed to some legitimate problems with this bill, especially the need for flexibility in the event of a downturn in the economy. But theyve also declined thus far to work with Gress to address those problems.

This, as Arizona continues to face a critical shortage of qualified classroom teachers.

Consider the budget. Hobbs negotiated a $17.8 billion spending plan with Republican legislative leaders, leaving her Democratic allies on the outside looking in.

I know not everyone got what they wanted, including me, Hobbs said on Monday, during a press conference to highlight a $150 million deposit into the Housing Trust Fund, an amount more than double the previous largest contribution.

Actually, it appears Republicans got exactly what they wanted.

Their No. 1 priority was to protect their universal voucher program from a governor who had vowed to repeal it, warning that it would likely bankrupt the state.

They didnt even have to accept so much as a minuscule cap to the program that was supposed to cost $33 million year and is now at 10 times that and growing.

Instead, Hobbs stunned her fellow Democrats and public school supporters by agreeing to continue the runaway program.

How money talks: Hobbs, Ducey got bipartisan budget deals differently

She also caved on her campaign vows to exempt diapers and feminine hygiene products from the state sales tax and to offer an annual $100-per-child tax credit to low-income Arizonans.

Hobbs did win a huge pot of mostly one-time money to boost public schools and a sizable budget to help with affordable housing and the homeless.

Meanwhile, Republicans not only protected their constituents who want public money to pay their kids private school tuition, they won a one-time $250-per-child tax rebate for Arizona families (maximum $750 per family), a plan spearheaded by the Freedom Caucus.

They even managed to attach language to the budget that prevents Hobbs from trying to take any credit for the tax rebate.

To wit: No letter relating to the Arizona families tax rebate issued under this section shall be sent from the governors office, be sent on the governors letterhead or reference the governors office.Freedom Caucusers were all smiles on Monday and for good reason.

While Hobbs tax credit for the poor wilted and died, their tax credit for the non-poor funded solely with Republicans share of the budget surplus is now law, with a promise of more to come next year from Freedom Caucus Chair Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek.

Arizona families are hurting while they attempt to pay for the most basic necessities each month , he said on Monday, during a press conference to highlight the $260 million tax rebate. In the meantime, government is flush with cash and in the position to give back to our honest, hardworking taxpayers.

The money wont reach the neediest Arizonans, the ones who dont earn enough to pay taxes.

Or to taxpayers who wipe out their state tax liability by making charitable contributions that qualify for a tax credit.

But itll be an effective bullet on Republicans reelection brochures, as will the substantial slab of bacon they delivered to their districts in the form of road and bridge projects.

All this, they got without having to agree to allow Maricopa Countys transportation tax to be put to a public vote next year.

And without Hoffman and his fellow Republican senators having to agree to stop gumming up the works as Hobbs tries to fill out her Cabinet.

Certainly, both sides got something out of the budget.

But theres a reason Hoffman, one of the Legislatures most conservative members, signed on as a primary sponsor of this years budget bills.

Reach Roberts atlaurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at@LaurieRoberts.

Support local journalism:Subscribe to azcentral.comtoday.

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Arizona Republicans have gotten most of what they wanted this year - The Arizona Republic

In late April, Juliet Harvey-Bolia, a Republican New Hampshire state representative, was one of dozens of elected officials whose endorsements former President Donald Trump announced at a packed rally in Manchester.

On Tuesday, officials at Never Back Down, the super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, said Harvey-Bolia is throwing her support to their guy. She is one of four New Hampshire legislators the others are Reps. Brian Cole, Lisa Smart and Debra DiSimone whom Never Back Down identified as flipping from Trump to DeSantis as it rolled out endorsements from 51 lawmakers in the state who signed a pledge to back DeSantis.

But thats not how Harvey-Bolia sees it.

Im endorsing both, she said in a telephone interview. DeSantis has a lot of promise for the future, and Trump is great now.

Smart, one of the other three legislators, said Tuesday that she remains with Trump dropping DeSantis' total to 50 state lawmakers.

"I was so incredibly proud to join many of my colleagues in endorsing President Donald J. Trump last month and my support for him has not changed," Smart said in a statement provided to NBC News by the Trump campaign. "I'm dismayed by the games being played by Never Back Down and I will NOT be participating in any activities with Ron DeSantis."

The unusual dual endorsement and Smart's reiteration of her support for Trump added intriguing twists to DeSantis' efforts to show momentum as he nears making his bid official. Last week, his super PAC revealed endorsements from 37 Iowa legislators just before he launched a three-city tour of the state.

And NBC News confirmed Tuesday that he has summoned his top donors to meetings in Miami on May 25 in conjunction with his expected campaign launch.

DeSantis team expects more than 100 donors and other supporters to attend a briefing with him and his senior team, said a person familiar with the plans.

But the drama surrounding Harvey-Bolia and Smart also points to an intense behind-the-scenes battle for endorsements and the immense pressure on lawmakers to avoid making an enemy in the eventual nominee as Trump and DeSantis jockey for position. The two other New Hampshire Republicans who endorsed Trump in April and DeSantis on Tuesday didnt return calls seeking comment.

Smart did not reply to NBC News' request for comment Monday on her apparent backing for DeSantis, or phone and text messages sent Tuesday about her decision to restate her support for Trump. But Never Back Down shared her pledge to support DeSantis, which was signed on May 9.

Still, DeSantis allies say theres excitement for him in the early-voting states and those that hold primaries later on next years calendar. Iowa and New Hampshire are of outsize importance in the Republican nominating fight because their caucuses and primary are the first two contests.

I think you get a sense from what you saw in Iowa over the weekend that those legislative endorsements are indicative of what were seeing and feeling on the ground, said a Never Back Down strategist who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss political machinations. And I think what youre seeing and feeling on the ground in New Hampshire is going to be very similar.

DeSantis, whose poll numbers have flatlined in recent months, has an uphill battle to supplant Trump, the two-time GOP nominee, as the partys standard-bearer. In the RealClearPolitics average of national polls, Trump stands at 55% and DeSantis at 21%. Public surveys of Iowa caucus-goers and New Hampshire voters show Trump in the lead in each state.

DeSantis allies say the endorsements in Iowa and New Hampshire are just the beginning of their effort to close the gap and win the nomination.

This is about building a movement, the Never Back Down strategist said. This is about building an organization to win. And so this is just one step in the process. Its not the end game.

Dasha Burns is a correspondent for NBC News.

Jonathan Allen is asenior national politics reporter for NBC News, based in Washington.

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2 Republicans on DeSantis' endorsement list say they back Trump - NBC News

TOPEKA Torn between his Catholic faith and commitment to public service, Rep. Henry Helgerson struggled to keep his composure as he spoke to colleagues from the House floor near the end of this years legislative session.

The Eastborough Democrat referenced an avalanche of anti-abortion legislation produced by Republicans in defiance of voters who rejected a constitutional amendment on abortion in August.

The Legislature was debating House Bill 2060, which addresses the states shortage of gynecologists by offering tuition assistance to medical students. The program is not available to anyone who receives training to perform abortions.

Fighting back tears, Helgerson talked about his role three decades ago in helping pass legislation that bans abortion at state-funded facilities. But he couldnt understand why the state would prohibit health care professionals from being trained to provide a legal service.

That crosses a whole different line, he said. I believe that if the voters have made a decision to allow abortion in this state, I want the doctors to have the best training. To prohibit them from having that is not in anyones best health interests.

I walk a real close line because I am torn on this issue. I am torn because, raised Catholic, go to church on a regular basis, but I still have everything that you all have, those feelings. But the state and our obligation is different than my religious obligation. And today, the last few days, we have crossed the line where my religious beliefs, or other peoples religious beliefs, suddenly takes over what the state policy is.

Kansas Reflector is examining the influence of religious beliefs on state government through a series of stories.

Despite the 59-41 margin in a statewide vote on the constitutional amendment last year, Republican lawmakers passed new anti-abortion laws. Abortion providers will have to tell patients the abortion pill can be reversed, a dangerous proposition based on junk research. Doctors will continue to provide medical care for infants who are born alive, thanks to legislation designed to promote a false narrative that failed abortions are performed on infants who are capable of surviving. And abortion providers would not have been able to obtain liability insurance through the state Health Care Stabilization Fund, even though they are required to contribute to it, but the Senate fell just short of the votes needed to override Gov. Laura Kellys veto.

Additionally, the Legislature allocated tax dollars to support pregnancy crisis centers, which actively discourage women from seeking abortions.

We are moral people, said Rep. Ron Bryce, a Republican physician from Coffeyville who claimed he personally provided aid to 27 babies who survived an abortion. We provide care for those who are weak, for those who are disadvantaged, for those who are innocent and powerless.

Abortion has dominated Kansas politics for decades, but attention to the issue was heightened last year by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and Kansas voters rejection of the proposed constitutional amendment.

In March, supporters of access to reproductive health care gathered en masse to celebrate bodily autonomy and protest anti-abortion legislation. At other times throughout the session, Kevan Myers, of Kansas City, Kansas, and Clifton Boje, of Bonner Springs, picketed the third floor railing with large anti-abortion signs. They are leaders of an abortion abolitionist ministry based in St. George.

One sign read: We are ambassadors of Jesus Christ pleading from God a message of reconciliation.

Another: The laws against murder should be applied equally to all people.

Rep. Tobias Schlingensiepen, a Topeka Democrat and senior minister at First Congregational Church, said in an interview for this series that he talked to a Republican leader, who I shall leave unnamed, who said to me: We dont really care about all this stuff, Tobias. We just bring all these abortion bills because we need to let the people who support us know that were carrying water for them despite the referendum last summer.

The attack on abortion rights in Kansas preserves the status quo.

Since the Summer of Mercy in 1991, powerful faith-based lobbying forces have influenced elections and established barriers to reproductive health care. Under Kansas law, a woman who seeks an abortion will be given state-mandated propaganda designed to change her mind. She will then have to look at an ultrasound image, wait 24 hours and pay for the procedure out of her own pocket.

State law prohibits abortion after 22 weeks, except to save the life of a mother.

In 2009, Scott Roeder, a member of a militant Christian Patriot group, gunned down physician George Tiller in his Wichita church. Tillers clinic had been bombed in 1986, and he had survived a 1993 shooting.

The Kansas Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in 2019 that determined the state constitutions right to bodily autonomy extends to the decision to terminate a pregnancy. The ruling, which was a response to state law that banned a procedure used in 95% of second-trimester abortions, ensuredabortion rights would be preserved in Kansas after the U.S. Supreme Court removed federal protections last June.

The Catholic Church, Kansans for Life, Family Policy Alliance and others funneled millions of dollars into a campaign to overturn the Kansas Supreme Courts decision through a constitutional amendment. Secret audio obtained by Kansas Reflector revealed that state lawmakers planned to ban abortion without exception if the amendment passed.

But six weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Kansas voters jolted the political establishment by rejecting the amendment in an unexpected landslide.

In an email to supporters a day after the election, Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, said it was his fervent hope that more than a half-million Kansans who voted against the amendment were simply misled by campaign ads and a complicit media. The alternatives, he said, were disturbing and unthinkable.

Thompson wondered if Kansans were really OK with infants being torn apart, limb from limb, or the prospects of Kansas becoming an even bigger destination site for abortion tourism. He listed other possible explanations for the popular vote that involved false narratives about abortion clinics.

I know that some are absolutely satisfied with the end result and are likely celebrating today, Thompson wrote in his email blast. I hope and pray that someday they realize the devastation they have left behind.

May God have mercy on Kansas. We will need to reprove to Him, somehow, that we deserve His grace.

Correction: This story has been updated to note the Senate failed to override the governors veto on a law banning access to liability insurance.

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Church and state: Kansas Republicans ignore voters and pass new ... - Kansas Reflector

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher bangs the gavel on the final day of session. Plocher believes Missouri voters would approve an abortion rights measure. Tim Bommel Missouri House Communications

As Missouri girds for an anticipated fight at the ballot box next year over an amendment overturning its near-total abortion ban, some Republicans have begun saying they expect a majority of voters to support restoring access to the procedure.

The stark admissions have also been accompanied by intense efforts to make it harder for Missourians to amend the state constitution an extraordinary acknowledgment that the Republican-controlled General Assembly must erode direct democracy in the state or risk decades of anti-abortion policy unraveling in a single election.

I think we all believe that an initiative petition will be brought forth to allow choice, House Speaker Dean Plocher, a St. Louis Republican, said Friday. I believe it will pass. Absolutely.

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Plochers remarkable comments come near the beginning of what is almost certain to be a furious 18-month race to the November 2024 general election, when an abortion rights amendment is likely to appear if one qualifies for the ballot.

Missouri, the first state to ban abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, could also potentially become the first state where voters reverse an abortion ban.

Ending the ban would be a seismic event in Missouri, opening a path for the return of abortion clinics after years of restrictions imposed by the General Assembly effectively whittled access down to a single location in St. Louis even before the ban, sending residents into Kansas, Illinois and elsewhere for the procedure.

Eleven amendments have been proposed so far that would allow various levels of abortion access and abortion rights supporters are expected to seek signatures through an initiative petition to place at least one on the ballot. Republican lawmakers have until then to pass an overhaul to the initiative petition process that would raise the threshold for passing an amendment at a statewide vote and, the thinking goes, place a victory out of reach for abortion rights supporters.

A compromise lawmakers agreed to last week but couldnt pass through the Missouri Senate would have required amendments to receive 57% of the vote instead of the current simple majority, a threshold that would have prevented recreational marijuana legalization from passing last November (the measure received 53% of the vote). GOP leaders have already said they will try again next year.

Whatever changes the General Assembly approves must then itself go to a statewide vote and pass with a simple majority. Republicans have signaled they would try to win support for the overhaul with arguments that the state constitution, at 253 pages, has grown too complex and that a higher bar for passage will require amendments to receive more buy-in from rural voters.

One idea that was discarded during negotiations, but could be revived next year, would require amendments to also win a majority of congressional districts if they only obtain a simple majority statewide. The change would empower residents in the rural areas to block amendments even if a majority of voters support them.

The threat of abortion with no restrictions looms large and we are committed to finding the answer early next year. That timeline allows us to see the actual language of abortion advocates and plan a path to defeat it, Senate Majority Leader Cindy OLaughlin, a Shelbina Republican, wrote in a newsletter to constituents Monday explaining that the Senate would act on initiative petition changes in 2024.

The anti-abortion group Missouri Right to Life has been even more blunt, calling the initiative petition overhaul the Resolution to Protect our Constitution and Keep Missouri Pro-Life.

For abortion rights supporters, the urgency among Republicans and abortion opponents only underscores their belief that they hold the upper hand with voters.

We know that Missourians positions and personal thoughts on abortion can be nuanced and complex, but regardless of an individuals personal opinions, by and large, they do not think that it is politicians business, and they dont think that politicians should have the final say over individuals access to this basic health care, said Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Pro-Choice Missouri.

Polling by Saint Louis University and YouGov of nearly 450 voters in August 2022 found that 48% support reversing the ban, while 40% would vote to continue the ban. The question had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.93%.

The poll appears to show Missourians support some restrictions on abortion, even if a plurality also support overturning the states ban. While 58% of voters said abortion should be legal during the first eight weeks of pregnancy (a period during which many women dont know theyre pregnant), only 40% said it should be legal through the first 15 weeks compared to 46% who said it shouldnt.

Just 32% said abortion should be legal when a woman wants one for any reason. The poll didnt ask about support for legal abortion up to the point of viability (around 24 weeks).

While all of the pending petitions would guarantee the right to reproductive freedom in the state constitution, they range from allowing all abortions to only restricting abortions after a certain time period such as 24 weeks.

Without knowing what policy might be able to move forward, we have an opportunity to create a level of access that has not existed in years with something that can pass, Schwarz said. And I think the policies proposed could restore 99% of access in our state and would be a dramatic expansion of access broader than weve seen in Missouri in decades.

Anna Fitz-James, a retired St. Louis pediatrician, filed the Missouri petitions in March on behalf of a political action committee called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom. The group appears to have no public presence, hasnt responded to reporter phone calls, and reports to the Missouri Ethics Commission show it has raised very little money, if any.

Fitz-James declined to comment. Michael Pridmore, Missourians for Constitutional Freedoms treasurer, didnt respond to a request for comment.

Tori Schafer, deputy director for policy and campaigns at the ACLU of Missouri, said lawmakers know abortion is popular, and thats why theyre afraid of majority rule.

The ACLU of Missouri is representing Fitz-James in a lawsuit against Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, all Republicans, over delays in posting official ballot summaries and fiscal notes for the petitions. A scheduling hearing is set for Wednesday.

Even though some Republicans say that while an abortion rights measure of some kind could pass, its chances depend in large measure on how far the proposal goes in allowing the procedure. Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican, said it would depend on what the left does.

I think if the political left decided that they were going to be reasonable in how they put something on the ballot relative to abortion, they probably have a chance, Rowden said.

Abortion rights supporters have won every statewide election on abortion access across the country since the end of Roe last June. More than 59% of Kansas voters in August rejected an amendment that would have allowed state lawmakers to ban abortion the first election since the Supreme Court decision. Other states including Kentucky, Montana and Vermont have followed in voting in favor of abortion rights.

Against that backdrop, Missouri Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, an Independence Democrat, said Republicans had let the cat out of the bag after Plocher tied the initiative petition overhaul to abortion.

If he wants to explicitly link abortion or the ability for a woman to have autonomy over her body to (initiative petition), great, he said. They wont like the outcome of that. I promise you. Go ask Kansas.

Missouri Republicans have been trying to restrict the initiative petition process for years, either by tightening signature-gathering requirements or raising the bar for passage at a statewide vote. The proposals have never passed, either becoming overtaken by larger priorities or bogged down by infighting.

But Republicans have now linked the initiative petition overhaul effort to one of their core political issues opposition to abortion in a way that could place enormous pressure on any GOP holdouts.

Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said Republicans could have likely headed off some of the anger at the states ban if they had enacted additional exceptions this year. However, the potency of abortion politics among the Republican base makes that effectively impossible.

Theyre in a position politically within their primaries where they cant really do that, Squire said. And so now theyre facing giving the voters a choice of all or nothing.

Samuel Lee, a lobbyist for the anti-abortion Campaign Life Missouri, said a proposal with enough ballot candy official ballot summary language that entices voters could have a chance of passing with a simple majority (opponents of initiative petition changes have also leveled ballot candy accusations at GOP proposals).

But whether any of the 11 abortion amendments currently put forward could pass is a different story, he said.

Democrats have issued their own criticism of the deceptive ballot language on the initiative petition proposal that would be placed in front of voters, saying that Republicans were using confusing ballot candy to get voters to agree to take away their voting power.

The ballot initiative considered by lawmakers this year would have asked Missourians to Allow only U.S. citizens to vote on ballot measures, despite the fact that the Missouri constitution already requires voters to be U.S. citizens. State Rep. David Tyson Smith, a Columbia Democrat, last week likened the summary to dog poop with icing on it.

Ashcroft, who is running for governor, has proposed a summary for the abortion amendments that would say that they allow for dangerous, unregulated, and unrestricted abortions, according to late April letters from Bailey to Ashcroft that have been released publicly.

They know that in order to block an abortion access ballot from being able to get the votes that it would need, they have to rely on tactics of manipulation and coercion, Schwarz, the Pro-Choice Missouri director, said.

Lee called Ashcrofts proposed language pretty strong stuff but acknowledged a lawsuit will probably be filed against it.

The voters will decide based on whats in front of them, Lee said, And the jurys still out on what is even going to be promoted.

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Missouri voters likely to reinstate abortion rights if given the chance, Republicans say - Kansas City Star