Statewide ballot initiatives pass

Tuesday was a good day to have a proposition on Missouri ballots.

All five statewide ballot issues received approval in the Nov. 4 general election, according to the Missouri Secretary of State's office.

Among the issues:

• Constitutional Amendment 1 received 86.3 percent of the vote. The amendment makes English the official language of all official proceedings statewide, including government meetings and writings.

• Constitutional Amendment 4 received nearly 58 percent of the vote. The item limits storm water grants and loans from the state Department of Natural Resources to public sewer and water districts.

• Proposition A received 56.2 percent approval. The proposition increases the tax on Missouri casinos, creates a fund to funnel additional casino tax money to state school districts, removes Missouri's $500 loss limit, and limits the number of additional casinos that can be built.

• Proposition B passed with 75.2 percent of the vote. The proposition creates a statewide Quality Homecare Council to oversee home health care workers and would allow some of those workers to unionize and collectively bargain.

• Proposition C passed with 66 percent of the vote. It requires the state's three investor-owned utilities, including Joplin-based Empire District Electric Co., to increase their renewable energy usage to 15 percent by 2021.