Did Missouri's AG approve the Secretary of State's summary statement for the Michael Louis labor-union initiative petition version 2 (2020-013)?

Plain-English summary

Under § 116.334, RSMo, the Missouri Secretary of State drafts a "summary statement" describing the legal effect of any initiative petition that has been certified for circulation. The Attorney General reviews the draft for legal content and form. The AG's review is not an endorsement of the underlying policy; it is a sufficiency check on the words the Secretary will print on the petition that voters see.

This opinion approved the Secretary of State's draft summary statement for Petition 2020-013, version 2, submitted by Michael Louis. The proposed amendment to Article I of the Missouri Constitution would have:

• prohibited any law or ordinance impairing, restricting, or limiting the negotiation and enforcement of any collectively bargained agreement with an employer respecting financial support by employees of their labor union; and
• protected the right of employers to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.

This was one of several alternative versions of a labor-union initiative that Louis submitted around the same time. See companion opinions: 18-2019 (version 1, 2020-012), 20-2019 (version 3, 2020-014), 21-2019 (version 4, 2020-015).

The opinion is a one-paragraph approval letter. The AG is required by statute to perform this review, so the approval does not signal any view on the merits of the policy.

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. The 2020-013 petition was one of many versions; check the Missouri Secretary of State's initiative petition records to learn which versions advanced to circulation and whether any qualified for the ballot.

Common questions

What does AG approval of a summary statement mean?

It means the Attorney General has reviewed the Secretary of State's draft for legal content and form under § 116.334, RSMo, and finds no defects. The AG is not endorsing or opposing the underlying policy. The statute requires the review.

Why were there four versions of the same petition?

Initiative proponents commonly submit multiple drafts to get the Secretary of State and AG to clear each before deciding which one to circulate. Each version gets its own number from the Secretary of State's office (here, 2020-012 through 2020-015).

Why does the petition mention employer "collective bargaining"?

The draft constitutional language tracked both directions of collective bargaining: employees' right to negotiate union financial support agreements and employers' parallel right to "organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing." That symmetrical framing was a feature of the Louis drafts.

What happened next?

The Secretary of State's certified summary statement, along with the AG-approved fiscal note summary from the State Auditor, would be printed on the petition circulated for signatures. Whether 2020-013 was the version actually circulated is a separate question from this opinion.

Background and statutory framework

The statute the AG cites in this letter is § 116.334, RSMo, under which the Secretary of State drafts the summary statement and the AG reviews its legal content and form. Form review and the State Auditor's fiscal note run under other provisions of Chapter 116. The summaries, with the full text of the proposed measure, comprise the petition circulated for signatures.

Per the quoted summary statement, this version would amend Article I of the Missouri Constitution (the Missouri Bill of Rights) to bar laws impairing collectively bargained agreements on employee financial support of a labor union, and to protect employers' collective-bargaining rights.

Source

• Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/19-2019.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Original opinion text

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

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

January 18, 2019

OPINION LETTER NO. 19-2019

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 January 8, 2019, for our review under § 116.334, RSMo, of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by Michael Louis regarding a proposed constitutional amendment to amend Article I of the Missouri Constitution, version 2 (2020-013). The proposed summary statement is as follows:

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

• prohibit any law or ordinance that would impair, restrict or limit the negotiation and enforcement of any collectively bargained agreement with an employer respecting financial support by employees of their labor union according to the terms of the agreement; and

• protect the right of employers to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing?

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-2019-0009