TOP 10 REASONS TO RAISE YOUR HAND FOR KIDS AND VOTE YES ON AMENDMENT 3

1. Investing in Missouri children: Missouri ranks last in the Midwest in state pre-K funding. Our neighbors spend up to 20-25X the amount the Show-Me State does on early education. We fund prisons at over $600 million per year and early education at only $37 million. We need to invest in our children so we can lower high school dropouts, raise wages, improve the economy, reduce reliance on social services and save taxpayers money. If our children succeed, then Missouri will too.
2. A policy written by Missourians for Missourians: After years of fighting the Missouri Legislature for increased funding for early childhood development, we know we’re never going to get the type of annual investment that matches the scale of the need. Raise Your Hand for Kids decided to go directly to voters. We spent 18 months traveling the state talking to education, health and civic leaders about Missouri’s early childhood needs. Amendment 3 was created through a collaborative process incorporating feedback from 13 community conversations, over 300 stakeholder meetings and multiple polls.
3. $300 million a year for kids and only kids: Special interests groups and politicians are attacking Amendment 3 because they want the money for their special interests. Amendment 3 was designed to solely fund early childhood health and education for kids ages birth through 5. Period. It does not ban any type of research or any other activities, it just doesn’t fund them.
4. A lockbox Jefferson City politicians can’t touch: Missourians are tired of children’s services being first on the chopping block. Amendment 3 guarantees funding for early childhood health and education and ensures that politicians can’t use the money for their special purposes.
5. Public/private partnerships: Missouri’s public school system cannot accommodate the needs of all children ages birth through 5. Public funding and services already go to private providers of early childhood education through programs such as the Missouri Preschool Project, Head Start and Title I funds. Amendment 3 complements these existing public/private partnerships and ensures greater access to quality preschool and child care programs so all children, regardless of circumstance or geography, are prepared for Kindergarten. Per the U.S. Constitution, no funding from Amendment 3 may go toward religious curriculum.
6. Ends cheap tobacco’s $80 million subsidy: Each year, Missouri taxpayers subsidize certain tobacco companies to the tune of $80 million because out-of-state cheap tobacco companies take advantage of a loophole that only Missouri has failed to close. Amendment 3 closes this loophole and dedicates the revenues gained from ending it to early childhood health and education.
7. $30 million a year for smoking cessation and prevention programs for pregnant moms and youth: 1 in 6 pregnant women in Missouri smoke. Amendment 3 increases smoking cessation and prevention funding by dedicating up to $30 million per year for evidence-based smoking cessation and prevention programs – the CDC approved programs that have only been proven to work. Helping pregnant women quit smoking makes both mothers and children healthier.
8. Accountable leadership: A commission is responsible for grant making – not special interests. The board is made up of the following 13 Missourians: 1. Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner; 2. Dept. of Health and Senior Services Director; 3. Dept. of Mental Health Director; 4. Dept. of Social Services Director; 5. Head Start Collaboration Office Director; 6. Member from the Senate; 7. Member from the House of Representatives; 8 – 13: six private citizens representing business, faith, medicine, early childhood, higher education and Head Start. The board makeup can be changed by statute.
9. Includes protective health language that helped the 2012 campaign neutralize opposition: As reported in Washington University’s 2013 Show-Me A Brighter Campaign Evaluation: “Utilizing lessons learned from the 2006 campaign, an attempt was made to neutralize the opposition [in the 2012 campaign] by adding specific language stating that the money would not be used to support abortions or stem cell research. The pro-life groups were not satisfied, but were not as active as in prior campaigns. With help from attorneys at Husch Blackwell, the ballot was worded to minimize legal challenges …. The main opponents to the tobacco tax increase were the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association (MPCA) as well as the non-participating manufacturers. The pro-life groups were also against the tobacco tax, but they were not as active as in prior campaigns, due to the ballot language excluding funding of stem cell research.”
10. Innovation, accountability and flexibility: Amendment 3 will provide Missourians with the resources necessary to become a leader in early childhood development. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity we must seize for our children. Voters need to put politics aside and do the right thing – vote for kids, not cheap cigarettes.

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