Did Missouri’s AG endorsement follow from approving the 2024 tobacco-tax initiative summary?

Plain-English summary

Missouri’s Secretary of State sent the AG a proposed summary statement for a 2024 initiative petition. The statement described a proposed additional ten-cent tax on cigarettes, a Childhood Cancer Treatment and Prevention Fund, limits on use of that fund, and audit and reporting duties. These were features of the proposal as submitted, not findings that those measures had taken effect.

Under § 116.334, RSMo, the AG approved the proposed statement’s “legal content and form.” The opinion immediately limited that approval: statutory review was not an endorsement of the petition or a statement of support for its proponents’ objectives. The letter did not decide whether the proposal was good policy or whether voters would adopt it.

What this means for you

Voters reading an initiative summary

The AG’s approval addressed the wording’s legal content and form. It did not express a view on the proposed tax or fund.

Election officials and petition proponents

The opinion completed the AG’s statutory review of this submitted summary statement. Its conclusion did not extend to the separate fiscal-note estimates or to the petition’s ultimate status.

Common questions

Q: Did the AG approve a cigarette tax in this letter? A: No. It approved the legal content and form of a summary statement for a proposed initiative.

Q: Did the AG endorse the petition?
A: No. The letter expressly said the mandated review should not be construed as an endorsement or as a view about its proponents’ goals.

Q: What did the proposed summary describe?
A: It described an additional cigarette tax, a childhood-cancer fund, restrictions on spending from that fund, and an audit and periodic report. The opinion reproduced that proposed wording before approving its legal form.

Background and statutory framework

The Secretary of State requested review under § 116.334, RSMo. The AG’s response was a narrow approval of the summary statement prepared for initiative petition 2024-174. It did not address the measure’s later ballot or legislative history.

Citations and references

• § 116.334, RSMo (review of proposed summary statement).

Source

• Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/11-2024.pdf

Original opinion text

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ANDREW BAILEY
April 19, 2024
OPINION LETTER NO. 11-2024
The Honorable John R. Ashcroft
Missouri Secretary of State
James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center
600 West Main Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Dear Secretary Ashcroft:
This opinion letter responds to your request dated April 9, 2024, for our review under § 116.334, RSMo of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Deirdre Hirner, 2024-174. The proposed summary statement is as follows: Do you want to amend Missouri law to:

• create a Childhood Cancer Treatment and Prevention Fund by imposing an additional tax of ten cents on tobacco cigarettes beginning January 1, 2025;
• require the fund to be used exclusively for the treatment and prevention of childhood cancers and be administered by the Children's Trust Fund Board;
• prohibit any money to be used for abortion or research which is banned by Missouri law; and
• require the state auditor to perform an annual audit and every three years provide a comprehensive report to the governor, general assembly and the public? Pursuant to § 116.334, RSMo, we approve the legal content and form of the proposed statement. Because our review of the statement is mandated by statute, no action that we take with respect to such review should be construed as an endorsement of the petition, nor as the expression of any view regarding the objectives of its proponents. Very truly yours,

ANDREW BAILEY
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-2024-013