Ezel / AG Opinions / MO
MO Opinion No. 10-2020 2020-02-06

Did the Missouri Attorney General sign off on the State Auditor's fiscal note summary for James Owen's renewable energy initiative (version 3)?

Short answer: Yes. Attorney General Eric Schmitt approved the fiscal note summary's legal content and form for Owen's version 3 petition (2020-144). The estimated annual state cost was about $143,500 (matching version 2). The 1 percent annual electricity rate ceiling carried over. The AG did not review the substantive accuracy.
Currency note: this opinion is from 2020
Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Disclaimer: This is an official Missouri Attorney General opinion. AG opinions are persuasive authority but not binding precedent. This summary is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Consult a licensed Missouri attorney for advice on your specific situation.
About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official AG opinion. The original opinion (linked at the bottom of this page, or PDF in the sidebar) is the authoritative source for any reliance.
View original AG opinion (PDF)

Plain-English summary

Third in the trio of Owen renewable energy fiscal note summary approvals (versions 1, 2, and 3 covered by Opinions 8-2020, 9-2020, and 10-2020). The version 3 summary contained the same numbers as version 2: approximately $143,500 in annual ongoing state costs and a possible electricity rate increase capped by existing law at 1 percent annually. The AG approved the legal content and form under § 116.175.4, RSMo, without reviewing the substantive accuracy of the figures.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2020. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Background and statutory framework

The Missouri initiative process generates parallel AG opinions for each filed version of a petition. The Owen renewable energy package (versions 1-3) generated this matrix:

Version Form review Fiscal note review Summary statement review
1 (2020-142) (not in our corpus) 8-2020 11-2020
2 (2020-143) 2-2020 9-2020 12-2020
3 (2020-144) 3-2020 10-2020 13-2020

Each row is the same proposal at a slightly different draft. Each column is a different statutory review.

The fiscal note summary review under § 116.175.4 is narrow: legal content and form only. The AG repeats in every approval: "our review under § 116.175.4 does not examine the fairness or sufficiency of the estimated fiscal impact."

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2020. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Why does this opinion almost exactly mirror 9-2020?

Because the State Auditor produced a fiscal note summary with the same numbers for version 3 as for version 2. Whatever differences existed between the two petition versions did not change the Auditor's estimate.

Are these AG opinions the place to challenge a wrong estimate?

No. The AG explicitly disclaims any review of accuracy. Challenges go to the courts.

Citations

  • § 116.175, RSMo (State Auditor's role)
  • § 116.175.4, RSMo (AG review of fiscal note summary)

Source

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ERIC SCHMITT
February 6, 2020

OPINION LETTER NO. 10-2020

The Honorable Nicole Galloway
Missouri State Auditor
State Capitol, Room 121
Jefferson City, MO 65101

Dear Auditor Galloway:

This office received your letter of January 27, 2020, submitting a fiscal note and fiscal note summary prepared under § 116.175, RSMo, for an initiative petition submitted by James Owen (2020-144). The fiscal note summary that you submitted is as follows:

State governmental entities estimate additional ongoing costs of approximately $143,500 annually. Additionally, state and local governmental entities anticipate a possible unknown increase in electricity costs from this proposal, which is limited by existing law to be no more than an average retail rate increase of one percent annually.

Under § 116.175.4, RSMo, we approve the legal content and form of the fiscal note summary. Because our review of the fiscal note summary is mandated by statute, no action that we take with respect to such review should be construed as an endorsement of the initiative petition or as the expression of any view regarding the objectives of its proponents. Furthermore, our review under § 116.175.4 does not examine the fairness or sufficiency of the estimated fiscal impact.

Very truly yours,

ERIC S. SCHMITT
Attorney General

Supreme Court Building
207 W. High Street
P.O. Box 899
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: (573) 751-3321
Fax: (573) 751-0774
www.ago.mo.gov

OP-2020-0010