JEFFERSON CITY • Voters will have a chance to weigh in on a proposal to raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 60 cents, after the Missouri Supreme Court dismissed claims that the initiative was unconstitutional in a 7-0 ruling Tuesday.
The ruling marks the end of a long battle involving multiple lawsuits aimed at keeping the proposal off the ballot. Tobacco vendors sued Raise Your Hand for Kids, the nonprofit pushing the initiative for early childhood education programs, and Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, who certified the initiative for the ballot.
Their main contention is that a summary rewritten by an appeals court didn’t match up with the one presented to registered voters who signed to get it on the ballot. So even though the proposal had enough signatures for certification, opponents argued that their signatures shouldn’t count because the signers had read a misleading summary of the issue before approving it.
The court found there was “no clear and unequivocal requirement” that would have kept Kander from certifying the signatures.
In its ruling, the court also dismissed all challenges that “relate to what the proposed amendment may do if approved by the voters and put into operation, not whether the proposed amendment satisfies the constitutional requirements to be put before voters in the first place.”
“There will be time enough for such claims after the election, if Missouri voters find Amendment No. 3 to their liking,” the court found.
It’s not a debate that’s likely to end anytime soon. At issue is a larger fight between bigger and smaller tobacco companies doing business in Missouri, and the proposal the court ruled on Tuesday is one of two tax hikes that will appear on the ballot Nov. 8.
The other is a 23-cent increase backed by smaller tobacco companies, with the promise of money generated going toward transportation improvements.
The dueling initiatives mark a long fight between Big Tobacco, which is bankrolling the Raise Your Hand for Kids petition, and smaller companies backing the 23-cent hike, over a loophole that allows smaller companies to avoid making payments to the state from a 1998 court settlement.
It remains unclear what will immediately happen if both tobacco measures win approval from voters.
While supporters have said they are operating as if both taxes would take effect, a spokesman for Kander said that would be up to the courts to decide after the election.
Language in the 23-cent proposal indicates it would be repealed if in the future, “any tax or fee increase on some or all cigarettes or other tobacco products is officially certified to be placed on any local or statewide ballot by the Secretary of State or any other election official at any time.”
If the court’s Tuesday ruling is any indication, the effort may face continued legal challenges even if voters sign off on it.
For now, though, proponents are celebrating a victory. Raise Your Hand for Kids attorney Jane Dueker called for an end to “these frivolous lawsuits” and said the decision affirmed the will of more than 200,000 people who wanted the issue to go before voters.
“The people of Missouri overwhelmingly believe they should be able to vote on this critical amendment, and their right should not and now will not be denied by these companies and special interests,” Dueker said in a statement.
Chuck Hatfield, attorney for the opponents, said while it wasn’t the outcome hoped for, voters at the polls will see an accurate, updated summary of what they’re being asked to vote on.
“Summaries matter because these measures are very complicated,” Hatfield said. “Hopefully people will read it all. But at least they’ll see a summary that isn’t misleading.”
For opponents such as the Missouri Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, the next step will be to share concerns with voters before Election Day.
“While we are disappointed the Missouri Supreme Court did not strike Big Tobacco’s Amendment 3 from the ballot, we are confident the people will see through Big Tobacco’s scam to place many troubling provisions in Missouri’s constitution and vote no on November 8th,” said Ron Leone, the association’s executive director.
Election 2016 from St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Celeste Bott • 573-556-6186
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