MO Opinion No. 247-2019 2019-11-18

Did the Missouri AG approve the State Auditor's fiscal note summary for the 2020 Hirner marijuana legalization petition (2020-126)?

Short answer: Yes. AG Eric Schmitt signed off on the legal content and form of the fiscal note summary that Auditor Nicole Galloway prepared for Deirdre Hirner's marijuana legalization petition (2020-126). The estimate projected one-time state costs of $21 million, annual costs of $6 million to unknown, and annual revenues of $86 to $155 million by 2025. The AG's approval is a narrow form check, not an endorsement of the policy or of the fairness of the dollar figures.

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 AG opinions are persuasive authority but not binding precedent.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

Auditor Nicole Galloway's office sent the Attorney General a draft fiscal note summary for petition 2020-126, one of several initiatives that Deirdre Hirner had filed with the Secretary of State to amend Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution to legalize recreational marijuana for the 2020 ballot. The AG's job under § 116.175.4 RSMo is narrow: he checks whether the legal content and form of the Auditor's summary meet statutory requirements. He does not check whether the dollar estimates are accurate or fair, and his approval is not an endorsement of the underlying policy.

AG Schmitt approved the summary. The summary said:

State government entities are expected to have one-time costs of $21 million, annual costs from $6 million to unknown, and annual revenues from $86 million to $155 million by 2025. Local governments estimate unknown costs and are expected to have annual revenues from $17 million to $27 million by 2025.

The dollar range reflected the petition's combination of new licensing costs, possible enforcement reductions, and a 15% retail tax on marijuana sales (the tax rate is shown elsewhere in the petition cluster, including the related summary-statement opinion 251-2019).

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.

Common questions

Q: What was Hirner's petition 2020-126 actually about?
A: It was one of several Article XIV constitutional amendments Deirdre Hirner filed for the 2020 cycle to legalize recreational marijuana use, possession, and commercial sale in Missouri, with a 15% retail tax dedicated mostly to veterans' services, highways, and addiction treatment. (See companion AG opinion 251-2019, which approves the Secretary of State's ballot summary statement and reproduces the substantive language.) The petition cluster did not ultimately appear on the 2020 ballot in this form; recreational legalization eventually reached the Missouri Constitution through Amendment 3 in 2022.

Q: What did the AG actually decide?
A: The AG concluded the Auditor's fiscal note summary met the legal-content-and-form requirements of § 116.175 RSMo. That is a procedural check on the document, not a sign-off on whether the projections are correct.

Q: What's the difference between this and a "summary statement" approval?
A: The fiscal note summary (this opinion) describes the projected money impact and is prepared by the State Auditor under § 116.175. The "summary statement" (a separate review under § 116.334) is the short ballot-question text that voters actually read; it is prepared by the Secretary of State. The AG reviews the legal form of both, but each is a separate document with its own opinion letter.

Q: Who can challenge the fiscal note summary if I think it's misleading?
A: At the time of this opinion, an aggrieved party could sue under § 116.190 RSMo to challenge a fiscal note or fiscal note summary. Verify current Missouri law before relying on any specific procedure.

Background and statutory framework

Missouri's initiative petition process puts several state officers in distinct roles. Proponents file a draft petition with the Secretary of State. The Secretary forwards it to the State Auditor, who prepares a fiscal note (the substantive impact analysis) and a fiscal note summary (a short citizen-facing description). Under § 116.175, the State Auditor sends the summary to the Attorney General for a legal-content-and-form review. Once the AG approves, the summary attaches to every signed petition page that circulates for voter signatures.

The AG's review is intentionally narrow, and Missouri courts have stressed it cannot substitute for substantive challenges. As AG Schmitt's letter put it, "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," and the review "does not examine the fairness or sufficiency of the estimated fiscal impact."

Citations and references

Statutes:
- § 116.175, RSMo (State Auditor's preparation of fiscal note and summary; AG approval of legal content and form)
- § 116.175.4, RSMo (specific AG approval provision used here)

Related AG opinions in this petition cluster: Opinion 250-2019 (sister Hirner petition 2020-127), 251-2019 (Secretary of State summary statement for 2020-126, which contains the actual ballot-question text), 252-2019 (sister petition 2020-128).

Source

Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/247-2019.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Original opinion text

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ERIC SCHMITT
November 18, 2019

. OPINION LETTER NO. 247-2019
The Honorable Nicole Galloway

Missouri State Auditor

State Capitol, Room 121

Jefferson City, MO 65101

Dear Auditor Galloway:

This office received your letter of November 8, 2019, submitting a fiscal note
and fiscal note summary prepared under § 116.175, RSMo, for an initiative
petition submitted by Deirdre Hirner, (2020-126) the fiscal note summary that you
submitted is as follows:

State government entities are expected to have one-time
costs of $21 million, annual costs from $6 million to
unlmown, and annual revenues from $86 million to $155
million by 2025. Local governments estimate unknown
costs and are expected to have annual revenues from $17
million to $27 million by 2025.

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,

a a

ERIC S. SCHMITT

Supreme Court BuitittbOrney General

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-2019-0281