Ezel / AG Opinions / MO
MO Opinion No. 121-2019 2019-07-12

Did the Missouri AG approve the fiscal note for Mark Pedersen's 2019 Article XIV (cannabis) initiative petition (file 2020-070)?

Short answer: Yes, as to legal content and form. AG Schmitt approved the fiscal note for Pedersen's petition 2020-070, which would have amended Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution. The auditor projected at least $10.7 million in additional annual state revenue and $6.8 million in annual savings by 2027, plus at least $26.6 million in additional annual local revenue and unknown local cost increases.
Currency note: this opinion is from 2019
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 AG opinions are persuasive authority but not binding precedent.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.

Plain-English summary

Petition 2020-070 was a Mark Pedersen initiative to amend Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution. Article XIV is the cannabis article (added by Amendment 2 in 2018, originally framed as the medical-marijuana provision). The auditor's revenue numbers, with state and local revenue both rising into the tens of millions by 2027, are consistent with a recreational-cannabis or expanded-cannabis-tax proposal.

Under § 116.175 RSMo, the State Auditor prepares the fiscal note. The AG then reviews the fiscal note's "legal content and form" under § 116.175.4 RSMo. AG Schmitt's letter approved that legal form for petition 2020-070.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2019. 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.

The exact fiscal-note summary the AG approved

State governmental entities expect increased revenues of at least $10.7 million annually and savings of at least $6.8 million annually by 2027. Local governmental entities are expected to have revenue increases of at least $26.6 million annually by 2027 and are expected to have cost increases of an unknown amount.

Common questions

Q: What does the AG actually approve here?
A: Only the legal content and form of the auditor's fiscal-note summary, that is, whether the auditor's words satisfy § 116.175.4 RSMo. The AG does not pass on the accuracy or fairness of the dollar figures. Voters can challenge accuracy under § 116.190 RSMo.

Q: Why are the projected savings and revenues both so much larger than typical voting-access petitions?
A: The auditor's revenue line ($10.7 million state plus $26.6 million local annually by 2027) and the savings line ($6.8 million state annually) are characteristic of a cannabis-tax proposal: new excise revenue from legal sales plus criminal-justice savings from reduced cannabis enforcement. Voting-access petitions in this same docket carried local-cost numbers in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, not millions.

Q: How much later was the next big cannabis ballot measure?
A: Missouri voters approved adult-use cannabis under Amendment 3 in November 2022, expanding Article XIV to cover recreational use and shifting the tax structure from medical-only.

Q: Did this petition reach the ballot?
A: The opinion does not say. Pedersen's 2020-070 does not appear to have advanced to the 2020 ballot.

Background and statutory framework

Chapter 116 RSMo lays out the initiative-petition pipeline. This opinion sits at step 3:

  1. Proponent files the petition with the Secretary of State.
  2. AG reviews sufficiency as to form under § 116.332 RSMo.
  3. State Auditor prepares a fiscal note; AG reviews under § 116.175.4 RSMo (this opinion).
  4. Secretary of State drafts a summary statement; AG reviews under § 116.334 RSMo.
  5. Petition certified for circulation.

Citations and references

Statutes: § 116.175 RSMo; § 116.175.4 RSMo; § 116.190 RSMo; § 116.332 RSMo; § 116.334 RSMo. Mo. Const. art. XIV (cannabis).

Companion summary-statement opinion (2020-070): 138-2019.

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

July 12, 2019
OPINION LETTER NO. 121-2019

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

Dear Auditor Galloway:

This office received your letter of July 2, 2019, submitting a fiscal note and fiscal note summary prepared under § 116.175, RSMo, for an initiative petition submitted by Mark Pedersen (20-070). The fiscal note summary that you submitted is as follows:

State governmental entities expect increased revenues of at least $10.7 million annually and savings of at least $6.8 million annually by 2027. Local governmental entities are expected to have revenue increases of at least $26.6 million annually by 2027 and are expected to have cost increases of an unknown amount.

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.

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-2019-0147