May 2024 – Missouri Freedom Initiative

May 11 News Letter

May 11, 2024 ThomasJ

Happy Saturday gang! Amidst talk about Auroras, magnetic fields, sunspots and coronal mass ejections – I am here to remind you of the silver lining…SB735 is going to the House floor VERY soon. We’ll be live tonight at 7:30 PM Central. We’ll be on Twitter (X), Rumble, Odysee and You Tube.

I want to remind everyone first about Mike Moon’s re-elect launch party in Nixa TODAY at 2:00PM. I will be there, Ron Calzone will be there, Tom Martz will be there, Eric Burlison will be there…etc. Details on the image. This is not an endorsement from the Freedom Initiative BTW. This is about re-electing the MOST Constitutional voting Senator we have in the general assembly whose voting record aligns with the Missouri Freedom Initiative’s charter and he is my Senator so I will support him personally.

Now, back to SB735 AKA the Constitutional Money Act. We’ve seen SB735 move VERY fast in the past 2 weeks. In fact, it cleared 2 House committee hearings/reviews this week alone. It’s cleared all hurdles without changes or amendments and is now on the House calendar for Monday, the 13^th. This doesn’t mean that floor time on Monday is guaranteed but it is officially on the calendar and it has a LOT of support.

Daniel Diaz (Citizens for Sound Money) and I will be up at the capital beginning Monday whipping the votes. CEOs of silver/gold companies will be flying in and joining us as well. We’ll stay at the capital the entire week if necessary.

CALL TO ACTION

Please keep the positive and friendly emails and phone calls coming in. They are most definitely helping and we hear from Representatives that they are getting calls and emails about the Constitutional Money Act all the time. You can find your representative on the House Roster or on the app at the bottom of the House landing page. Let’s keep up the energy and the effort. I know many folks are weary however, this is the LAST week of session. It’s the last burst of energy exerted at the end of the race that can help to cross the finish line. Let’s stop calling the governor’s office for now, and concentrate of the House where our focus needs to be. “SB735 WILL come up on the House floor anytime between Monday the 11^th at 4:00PM and Friday the 17^th at 4:00PM.” – Representative Bill Hardwick

EMAIL FROM RON CALZONE ON IP REFORM

We’ve waited the whole legislative session in Jefferson City for what will happen this Monday, May 13, 2024.

That’s when the Missouri Senate will continue, and finish, debate on SJR 74, the Ratification Reform amendment to the Missouri Constitution. SJR 74 will put an end to the urban domination of the amendment process and give more Missourians from across the state a voice in what goes into their Constitution.

If SJR 74 comes to a vote, I have NO DOUBT that it will get the 18 votes it needs to go to the ballot for all Missouri voters to weigh in on.

There will be a fight on the Senate floor to prevent that vote. Democrats will put on a long filibuster, and a few Republicans who aren’t committed to protecting the Constitution from urban dominance may make the difference.

I’ll tell you how you can help, but first a short primer on filibusters.
THE ABSENCE OF A QUORUM
A filibuster is a test of will power. Generally, the side with the most commitment to their position will prevail. It’s a brilliant system that allows a minority with deep convictions to prevail over a majority that only has a preference.
A long filibuster is wearying for both sides. For it to continue the Senate must maintain a quorum — more than half the 34 senators must be present.
If the filibustering side notices that there are less than 18 Senators in the chamber, they can proclaim “The absence of a quorum.” The Sergeant of Arms then calls all the senators back to the chamber, and the one holding the floor gets a little break.
If fewer than 18 senators show up, the Senate must shut down – the filibuster is a success.

THE REAL TEST OF COMMITMENT TO RATIFICATION REFORM
More than 18 Senators have already committed to voting for SJR 74, but they won’t have a chance to prove that commitment if at least 18 of them don’t make themselves available for a quorum call for as long as the filibuster lasts.
As a long filibuster wears on, the majority floor leader has to ride herd on the rest of the senators to make sure that they ARE available for the quorum calls that sometimes happen in the wee hours of the morning. Concerns about too many senators leaving the Capitol can result in poor compromises or even laying the bill over.
Senate rules (Rule #8) allow 10 senators to use the Sergeant of Arms, or even the Highway Patrol, to take any absent senator into custody and compel their attendance — perhaps that should be an option in light of how important SJR 74 is.
HOW YOU CAN HELP We need for every Republican senator to realize that the People of Missouri KNOW that they have a duty to answer any quorum call where they are needed to make 18 present.
Every senator needs to know that WE KNOW that their absence is an indication that they aren’t committed to protecting the Constitution with SJR 74.
They need to know that WE KNOW that there is no need to compromise on SJR 74 or substitute it with a bad bill (e.g. HJR 86) as long as they do their duty to answer the quorum call.
Before Monday, call AND email each Republican senator to tell them you expect them:
1) To be available for a quorum call for as long as it takes to pass SJR 74 as it was amended in the House.
2) To use the power or Rule 8 to compel attendance of both Republican and Democrat when there is an absence of a quorum.
(Call over the weekend and leave a short courteous message rather than pester the staff during business hours.)
Missouri Senate Roster
In liberty,
– Ron
Well gang, that about wraps it up. I hope to see many of you at Mike Moon’s re-election launch and/or the live stream tonight.
May God bless us all with good health and with wisdom and courage.

Yours for liberty,
Patrick Holland
Missouri Freedom Initiative
P.O. Box 343
Clever, Missouri 65631
patrick@mofree.org

https://mofree.org
https://rumble.com/c/c-3860337
https://odysee.com/@MissouriLibertyAlliance:1
https://twitter.com/MissouriLibert2

May 4th News Letter

May 4, 2024 Patrick Holland

Hey gang, we’ll be live tonight at the usual time. We’ll be on Twitter (X), Rumble, Odysee and You Tube. This email will try to explain where silver and gold legislation are right now as we only have 2 weeks left of session.

As many of you know, Senator Eigel was able to third read SB735 in the Senate on Monday, April 29th. The vote total in the Senate (included below) was 21-10 in favor of the bill. Daniel Diaz (Citizens for Sound Money) and I were at the capitol all day Monday whipping votes (as was Senator Eigel) until the last second before the vote on the Senate floor. Thank you to EVERYONE who called and emailed Senators in the past two weeks. This REALLY helped to make a difference.

The bill has now been 1st and 2nd read in the House and has been assigned to Bill Hardwick’s committee – Emerging Issues. It is there the hearing will be conducted on Monday, May 6th at 2:00PM. Since we are working for a quick turnaround in committee, no one is being asked to testify. This is important, please do NOT show up at the capitol to testify on this bill. The hearing date was a special dispensation for the bill and the hearing MUST be short because of time constraints. However, we should be filling out witness forms for SB735. The link is here. I am asking for everyone to do a witness form. These can and do help, especially if hundreds of forms are filled out supporting the bill.

CALL TO ACTION

It’s time to call/email our reps once again and keep the energy up for SB735. Focus on your rep directly. You may have called and emailed them before on the Constitutional Money Act but it is time to remind them and to ask them to do something for you. We should all be asking our Representatives to meet with Representative Plocher to move the bill along as fast as possible. Again, this MUST be a positive campaign. So let’s stay positive and share our enthusiasm about the bill and WHY it is important for Missouri. Equally important, are the witness forms. PLEASE fill out a witness form before noon on Monday the 6th. Share this information and have your friends and family also fill out witness forms. Let’s try to get 500 or more forms filled out in support of the bill.

It’s important to know this isn’t just happening in Missouri. Approximately 9 states have legislation completed that are moving toward gold and silver legal tender and some have already been signed by their respective governors. I will be creating a flyer for this VERY soon and we’ll discuss these legislative success stories a bit tonight on the stream.

REGULAR BUSINESS

Recently, I was on a new radio show on NewsTalkSTL based in St. Louis, called the Robb Carter show. Daniel Diaz has also been on the show and so has Lori Rook (running for state treasurer). Robb’s show aligns very closely with the Missouri Freedom Initiative’s goals and charter so I suspect he’ll be interviewing a lot of candidates and grassroots leaders in Missouri this spring and summer.

Yesterday, Daniel and I were invited by Locke and Smith Foundation’s Tom Martz on the Nick Reed show on https://ksgf.com. During the 3 hour visit, Stacy Shore with Shield Maidens of Missouri joined us and in the last hour, Senator Mike Moon joined us as well. You can hear the show in parts. The first hour with Daniel, Tom and I. The second hour which Stacy Shore joins and the third hour with Mike Moon.

Now, a bit more about Senator Mike Moon. Moon has been a stalwart and ferocious defender of the US Constitution and the Missouri Constitution. He is the Senator of district 29, which includes a large chunk of S.W. Missouri. Mike took on a LOT of fire last year as his bill (SB49) was going through the legislature, a bill the Missouri Freedom Initiative was PROUD to support and work alongside other grassroots organizations. The S.A.F.E. Act was comprehensive protection of children in Missouri from transitioning from one gender to another before the age of 18. He has done so much more but that victory was HUGE and it started a direct attack on him which has culminated in establishment politicians with deep pockets to challenge his seat in the Missouri Senate. For someone who votes ONLY constitutionally in the legislature and wants to protect kids this is somewhat of conundrum. Why would establishment republicans want to replace a Senator who ACTUALLY follows his oath of office and listens to his constituents? The answer is OBVIOUS, the establishment wants Mike unseated so they do not have to put up with a Senator that votes constitutionally and is one of the precious few oath keepers representing the people in Jefferson City. Mike Moon is a HUGE supporter for the Missouri Constitutional Money Act (SB735) and is in fact, the FIRST to co-sponsor the bill. Mike is also a friend to all conservative grassroots organizations and has made his office available to them for the past 12 years (8 years in the House, 4 years in the Senate).

Although the Missouri Freedom Initiative as an organization does not endorse candidates, we should most certainly support the people we want in office as individuals. Mike Moon is my Senator and I am quite proud of the work he has done and he has my full support. In lieu of this, I wanted to make sure folks know about his campaign kick-off on May 11 (next Saturday) in Nixa, Missouri. Representative Eric Burlison will be there along with MANY grassroots leaders supporting Mike Moon. I will be there as well. I encourage everyone who can come to this event to be there. It is VERY important that we keep Senator Moon in the Senate. It is equally important that we show our support for his candidacy as he is being challenged by an establishment republican who clearly does not appreciate Mike’s constitutional stance in the general assembly. I will be there at 1:30PM. EVERYONE is welcome. You can see more about this event on Facebook.I hope to see you there.

When:
Saturday, May 11 2:00 – 4:00 P.M. (Doors open at 1:30.)

Where:
River Stone Fellowship
2129 Bristol Lane
Nixa, MO 65714

Just a note, Citizens for Sound Money are hiring a revenue officer. You can see the job description here. If you are interested and qualify, feel free to apply for the job.

That’s all for now gang. Let’s hope and pray there is a vote today for the state convention to include gold/silver as legal tender in the Missouri Republican platform today. We’ll cover this tonight. May the 4th be with you. J

May God bless us all with good health and with wisdom and courage.