Did Missouri approve ballot wording for petition 2024-173 on county cigarette taxes?

Plain-English summary

Missouri Attorney General Opinion 9-2024 approved the legal content and form of the proposed ballot summary for initiative petition 2024-173. The quoted summary would ask voters whether to amend the state constitution to let local voters set, change, reduce, or eliminate a county excise tax on tobacco cigarettes. It described approval by a majority voting in a county election and restricted proceeds to listed purposes or another local use specifically approved by voters.

The AG approved the wording, not a tax. The letter expressly says the mandatory review is not an endorsement of the petition or a view about its proponents' objectives. The PDF is dated April 1, 2024.

What this means for you

Missouri voters and county officials

The proposed statement described voter control over the rate or dedicated use of a county tobacco cigarette excise tax. It also described a county-wide majority vote and limited proceeds to education, health and mental health, crime prevention, job creation, veterans' services, or another voter-approved local use. The opinion does not say that the amendment passed or that any county imposed the tax.

Election officials and petition researchers

This letter records approval of a summary statement for petition 2024-173 under § 116.334, RSMo. Its review is limited to the statement's legal content and form and should not be read as policy support.

Common questions

Q: Did the AG authorize a county to charge a cigarette tax? A: No. The AG approved proposed ballot wording for a constitutional amendment; the opinion itself did not impose or authorize an operative tax.

Q: What vote did the proposed summary describe?
A: It described approval of a county-wide tobacco cigarette tax by a majority of qualified voters casting ballots in a county election on the measure.

Q: What uses of the proceeds did the proposed statement list? A: Education, health and mental health, crime prevention, job creation, veterans' services, or another local use specifically approved by local voters.

Q: Did the AG endorse the petition?
A: No. The letter expressly disclaims endorsement and any view regarding the proponents' objectives.

Background and statutory framework

The Secretary of State requested review of the proposed summary statement for Deirdre Hirner's petition 2024-173. The AG quoted its three-part question and approved its legal content and form under § 116.334, RSMo. The letter does not address the petition's ultimate legal status.

Citations and references

• § 116.334, RSMo: the summary-statement review cited in the opinion.

Source

• Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/9-2024.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ANDREW BAILEY

April 1, 2024
OPINION LETTER NO. 9-2024

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 March 22, 2024 for our review under § 116.334, RSMo of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Deirdre Hirner, 2024-173. The proposed summary statement is as follows:

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

• allow local voters the right, option, 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-2024-011

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