Missouri National Guard members set up a COVID-19 mass vaccination center at Arrowhead Stadium. Missourians on Tuesday voted to split the state’s National Guard off into its own department. (Tammy Ljungblad, The Kansas City Star/TNS)
(Tribune News Service) — Missourians on Tuesday voted to split the state’s National Guard off into its own department.
It is currently part of the state’s Department of Public Safety, but will soon operate as its own department, increasing its budget by about $132,000 a year.
Supporters say the move will give the Missouri-based military force more of a direct line to state leadership, considering its head will serve as a member of the governor’s cabinet. It will now be called the Missouri Department of the National Guard.
As they have for decades, Missourians again voted not to hold a constitutional convention, which would have triggered a gathering of delegates to propose changes to the state’s most significant document.
The question of whether to meet to make amendments to the state constitution is put before voters every 20 years, meaning it will be on the ballot again in 2042.
The last time voters called for a constitutional convention was in 1942, when changes were needed to “guide the state into the post-World War II future,” as the Secretary of State’s Office once put it.
Voters, however, decided Tuesday they wanted other changes that included requiring Kansas City to increase it police spending as well as making recreational marijuana legal statewide for adults 21 and older.
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