Did the Missouri AG approve the Secretary of State's ballot summary for Rik Combs's Article X personal-property-tax petition 2020-038?

Plain-English summary

When the Secretary of State certifies an initiative petition for circulation, the Secretary also prepares a "summary statement" of the petition that voters see on the ballot if it qualifies. Under § 116.334, RSMo, the AG reviews that summary statement for legal content and form before it is finalized. This 2019 opinion is the AG's approval of the summary statement Secretary Ashcroft drafted for Rik Combs's initiative petition 2020-038, the proposed Article X amendment banning personal property taxes.

The opinion quotes the summary statement in full:

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to prohibit the state, counties, and all other political subdivisions from imposing or collecting any tax on personal property other than sales tax, which may be collected each time the property is purchased?

The AG approved that text as to legal content and form. As with every § 116.334 review, the opinion adds the disclaimer that approval is statutory, not substantive: the AG is not endorsing the petition. The Combs Article X petition's fiscal-note approval is at Op. Mo. Att'y Gen. 51-2019.

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

What is a "summary statement" on a Missouri ballot?

The short, voter-facing question that appears on the ballot for an initiative petition. It is supposed to fairly and impartially describe what the petition will do, so voters know what they are voting on. The Secretary of State writes it; the AG reviews it for legal content and form under § 116.334.

Why does the AG review the summary statement?

Because voters generally do not read full constitutional amendments before voting. The summary statement is the only description many voters see. § 116.334 builds in a second pair of eyes: the AG looks at the summary's wording and confirms it does not editorialize, mislead, or stray from legal accuracy in obvious ways.

Is this the AG saying the petition is a good idea?

No. The opinion explicitly says it is not. "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." The AG is reviewing the Secretary's wording, not the policy.

Could a challenger contest the summary statement?

Yes. Missouri courts hear pre-election challenges to summary statements when a plaintiff argues the statement is "insufficient and unfair." The AG's form review under § 116.334 does not foreclose judicial review; it is administrative, not adjudicative.

Did Combs's 2020-038 petition reach the ballot?

Form review and summary review clear a petition to circulate. The petition still needed enough valid signatures, and timely signature submission, and survival through any litigation challenges, to reach the ballot. The AG's role ends with these statutory form reviews.

Background and statutory framework

Missouri's initiative process is in Chapter 116. § 116.334 covers AG review of the summary statement that the Secretary of State prepares. Companion provisions cover AG review of the petition form and AG review of the fiscal note summary the Auditor prepares. All three are mandatory statutory reviews. The substantive initiative framework is in Mo. Const. art. III, §§ 49 to 53.

Combs's 2020-038 petition was a proposed Article X amendment to ban personal property taxes other than sales-tax-at-purchase. The fiscal-note-summary approval is in Op. Mo. Att'y Gen. 51-2019. The form-review approval for the petition itself was a separately tracked opinion in this series.

Citations

• § 116.334, RSMo (AG review of summary statement for legal content and form)
• Mo. Const. art. III, §§ 49 to 53 (initiative and referendum process)
• Mo. Const. art. X (taxation, subject of the proposed amendment)
• Initiative Petition 2020-038 (Combs, Article X personal property tax)
• Op. Mo. Att'y Gen. 51-2019 (Combs 2020-038 fiscal note summary approval)

Source

• Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/53-2019.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Original opinion text

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ERIC SCHMITT
JEFFERSON CITY
P.O. Box 899
ATTORNEY GENERAL
65102
(573) 751-3321

March 1, 2019

OPINION LETTER NO. 53-2019

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 21, 2019, for our review under § 116.334, RSMo, of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Rik Combs regarding a proposed constitutional amendment to amend Article X of the Missouri Constitution (2020-038). The proposed summary statement is as follows:

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to prohibit the state, counties, and all other political subdivisions from imposing or collecting any tax on personal property other than sales tax, which may be collected each time the property is purchased?

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,

ERIC S. SCHMITT
Attorney General

OP-2019-0048