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The House in February a measure that would require 60% support from voters to approve a constitutional amendment, up from a simple majority.

But Senate Democrats successfully blocked that plan. A compromise approved Thursday would require 57% approval, or a simple majority statewide as well as a simple majority in five of eight congressional districts, to amend the constitution.

The measure now heads back to the House, where lawmakers may either send the question to voters or continue debate. The legislative session ends May 12.

The legislation also would made it more difficult for lawmakers to alter voter-approved changes to state law.

Currently, lawmakers can repeal voter-approved laws, but not voter-approved constitutional amendments.

The measure heading to the House would bar significant changes for five years after a voter-approved law takes effect, unless 57% of lawmakers vote for the alteration. (Republicans currently hold two-thirds majorities in both legislative chambers.)

Legislators in the past have attempted to change voter-approved statutory changes, such as the 2018 law to raise the state’s minimum wage and a 2010 law regulating dog breeders.

Rather than pursue statutory changes, which require fewer signatures to make the ballot, organizations have sought constitutional amendments that lawmakers can’t touch, such as adding recreational marijuana to the constitution in 2022.

“I think that was an attempt to say, �hey, let’s tie our own hands a little bit,’ and maybe some of these initiatives will go into law instead of the constitution,” said Sen. Sandy Crawford, R-Buffalo.

Even though Democrats didn’t launch into a filibuster on Thursday, they opposed the proposal.

Opponents have characterized the effort as an anti-democratic power grab by Republicans who oppose many citizen-led initiative petitions.

Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, said that when confronted with shortcomings, Republicans don’t change course.

Instead, he said the end goal for the GOP is to “gain more power, to keep power and to consolidate it.”

Proponents argue constitutional changes should enjoy wide support from the public and say special interests have too much influence in the process.

“It is too easy to amend the constitution,” said Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia.

In addition to the restrictions on lawmakers repealing statutory changes by voters, the legislation for voters to approve also asks if only U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote on initiative petitions.

The ballot summary that would appear before voters begins with the voter qualifications question, followed by asking whether lawmakers should be limited, and last, whether the threshold for constitutional amendments should be raised.

Critics have said Republicans were trying to trick voters into reducing their power by inserting “ballot candy” into the measure.

U.S. citizenship is already required to vote in Missouri.

“This is what entices a person to go in, and the first thing they see is �non-citizens are voting? What?’” said former state Sen. Robert Johnson, R-Lee’s Summit, on Wednesday. “I can’t be for that. So, yes, it’s ballot candy; it’s a sweetener. It’s not relevant.”

If the House signs off on the plan, the measure would be set to appear on the November 2024 ballot unless Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, calls a special election.

The effort comes as abortion rights supporters pursue an initiative petition for 2024 to enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution, undoing the state’s near-total abortion ban.

The legislation is .