Review and approval of the summary statement prepared for the initiative petition submitted by Austin Shaffer amending Article XVI of the Missouri Constitution (2022-080).

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI ERIC SCHMITT OP-2022-001 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 January 19, 2022 OPINION LETTER NO. 1-2022 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 January 7, 2022 for our review under § 116.334, RSMo of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Austin Shaffer, 2022-080. The proposed summary statement is as follows: Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to: • clarify the Federal Government's duty to uphold the rights of Missouri Citizens under the United States Constitution including the Bill of Rights and all other provisions; • identify breaches by the Federal Government; and • allow the State of Missouri to become a "separate administrative region" of the state of Texas, while retaining its status as a state of the United States of America as the legislature and governor of this State may lawfully determine best? 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