Did Missouri approve the ballot wording for a detailed county excise tax on tobacco cigarettes?

Plain-English summary

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey approved the legal content and form of the proposed summary statement for Deirdre Hirner's initiative petition 2026-008. This was the most detailed of the same-day tobacco-tax petitions. The statement described a constitutional amendment letting local voters set, control, impose, establish, levy, collect, fix, reduce, eliminate, or change the rate or dedicated use of a county excise tax on tobacco cigarettes. It described approving any such tax by a majority of qualified voters casting ballots in a county-wide election, and using the proceeds solely for education, health and mental health, crime prevention, job creation, veterans' services, or other local use specifically approved by local voters.

The attorney general reviewed the statement under § 116.334, RSMo for legal content and form. The approval did not endorse the petition.

What this means for you

County officials and voters

The reviewed statement spelled out a broad grant of local authority: not just setting a tobacco cigarette excise tax, but adjusting, reducing, or repealing it, all subject to a county-wide majority vote. This detail distinguished petition 2026-008 from the shorter companion petitions filed the same day.

Tobacco retailers

Had the measure passed, a county's voters could create or change a local excise tax on tobacco cigarettes at the ballot box. The opinion approves only the summary language; it sets no rate.

Missouri voters and researchers

Opinion 11-2025 records approval of the summary statement for petition 2026-008. The attorney general expressly did not endorse it.

Common questions

Q: What made petition 2026-008 more detailed?
A: Its summary listed the full range of powers over a county tobacco cigarette excise tax, including the power to reduce, eliminate, or change the rate, and required approval by a county-wide majority vote.

Q: Who would have to approve the tax?
A: A majority of qualified voters casting ballots in a county election on the measure.

Q: Did the attorney general endorse the tax?
A: No. The opinion approved the summary statement's legal content and form and disclaimed any endorsement.

Background and statutory framework

The Missouri Secretary of State requested review on December 30, 2024. Under § 116.334, RSMo, the attorney general reviews a proposed summary statement for legal content and form before circulation. The attorney general approved the statement on January 9, 2025.

The proposal was identified as Deirdre Hirner's petition 2026-008.

Citations and references

Statute: § 116.334, RSMo.

Source

• Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/11-2025.pdf

Original opinion text

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ANDREW BAILEY

January 9, 2025

OPINION LETTER NO. 11-2025

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 December 30, 2024, for our review under § 116.334, RSMo of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Deirdre Hirner, 2026-008. The proposed summary statement is as follows:

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
• allow local voters the right, power, authority to set, control, impose, establish, levy, collect, fix, reduce, eliminate or change the rate or dedicated use of a county excise tax on tobacco cigarettes;
• allow any county tobacco cigarette tax to be approved by a majority of qualified voters casting ballots in a county election on a county-wide tobacco cigarette tax measure; and
• use the county tobacco tax proceeds solely for education, health and mental health, crime prevention, job creation, veterans' services or other local use specifically approved by local voters?

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

OP-2025-011

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