Review and approval of the summary statement prepared for the initiative petition submitted by Deidre Hirner amending Article XV of the Missouri Constitution (2024-173).

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