What is the Missouri Attorney General's role when the Secretary of State sends over a proposed ballot summary for a citizen-initiated renewable energy amendment?
Plain-English summary
In February 2020, the Missouri Secretary of State asked the Attorney General to review a summary statement that had been drafted for an initiative petition submitted by James Owen. The petition (assigned number 2020-143) was the second version Owen had filed proposing to amend Chapter 393 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, the chapter that governs investor-owned electric utilities. The amendment would have raised Missouri's renewable energy standard from 15% of retail sales by 2021 to 50% by 2040, killed the existing solar rebate program, required utilities to buy solar credits from rooftop solar customers for ten years, raised the solar carve-out from 2% to 5%, and limited the use of renewable energy credits to electricity actually delivered to Missouri customers.
The Attorney General's job under § 116.334, RSMo, was narrow. The AG reviewed the proposed summary statement only for "legal content and form," meaning whether the Secretary of State's draft accurately described what the petition would do, in language that did not mislead voters and did not run afoul of the technical drafting rules. AG Eric Schmitt approved the summary. The opinion expressly noted that approval was not an endorsement of the petition or its policy goals.
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
Missouri's initiative process runs through Chapter 116, RSMo. When a citizen submits an initiative petition, the Secretary of State drafts a summary statement that will appear on the petition pages circulated for signatures and ultimately on the ballot if the petition qualifies. Section 116.334, RSMo, requires the Secretary to send that draft to the Attorney General, who reviews it for legal content and form and either approves it or returns it for revision.
The AG's review is statutorily limited. The opinion was not the place to debate whether a 50% renewable energy standard was good policy, whether eliminating the solar rebate program was wise, or whether requiring utilities to buy solar credits would raise rates. The AG's question was whether the Secretary's summary, as written, was a legally sufficient description of the petition.
Owen had filed multiple versions of the same general proposal. Petition 2020-143 was version 2; opinion 13-2020 (issued the same day) approved the parallel summary for version 3 (petition 2020-144).
What the petition would have done
Per the summary statement, the petition asked voters whether they wanted to amend Missouri law regarding the renewable energy standard for investor-owned electric utilities to:
- raise the minimum renewable energy share from the then-current 15% of retail sales in 2021 to 20% by 2022, with incremental steps to 50% by 2040
- eliminate the existing solar rebate program
- require utilities to buy solar credits for ten years from customers who installed solar panels
- raise the solar energy minimum from 2% to 5%
- restrict the use of renewable energy credits to those associated with electricity the utility actually sold to Missouri customers
Common questions
Why did the Attorney General have to sign off on the wording at all?
Because § 116.334, RSMo, makes that review mandatory. The Secretary of State writes the summary; the Attorney General checks the legal content and form before the petition can move forward to signature gathering.
Did the AG decide the petition was a good idea?
No. Schmitt's opinion explicitly stated that statutory review is not an endorsement of the petition or its objectives. Approval meant only that the Secretary's draft summary was legally adequate.
Why is there a "version 2" in the title?
Initiative proponents commonly file multiple variations of a proposal so they can choose the version that survives review and polls best. Owen had filed several versions of his Chapter 393 amendment in the 2020 cycle. Each version got its own petition number and its own AG opinion.
Where would the petition have appeared on the ballot if it qualified?
The 2020-143 version was a statutory initiative amending Chapter 393 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, not a constitutional amendment. Statutory initiatives that gather enough signatures appear on the November general election ballot.
Citations
- Section 116.334, RSMo, governing AG review of initiative summary statements
Source
- Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/12-2020.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Original opinion text
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
Eric SCHMITT
February 18, 2020
OPINION LETTER NO. 12-2020
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 February 7, 2020, for
our review under § 116.334, RSMo, of a proposed summary statement prepared
for the petition submitted by James Owen regarding a proposed amendment
to amend Chapter 393, version 2, (2020-143). The proposed summary
statement is as follows:
Do you want to amend Missouri law regarding the
renewable energy standard for investor-owned electric
utilities as follows:
• increase the minimum renewable energy amount from the
current 15% of retail sales in 2021 to 20% by 2022, with
incremental increases to 50% by 2040;
• eliminate the solar rebate program;
• require utilities to purchase solar credits for ten years from
customers with solar panels;
• increase the solar energy minimum from the current 2% to 5%;
and
• only allow the use of renewable energy credits that are
associated with electricity the utility sold to Missouri
customers?
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-2020-0015