Amendment 3, also known as the Early Childhood Health and Education Amendment, was transferred to the Missouri Supreme Court Thursday, continuing a months long legal battle over the measure’s fitness for the ballot.
The amendment’s opponents have argued that because an appeals court rewrote the ballot language and title under which the petition was circulated, signatures collected should not have been certified and the amendment should not be on the ballot.
“The Court of Appeals has already ruled that Big Tobacco’s Amendment 3 ‘fails to adequately inform voters of the initiative’s probable effects, and is therefore unfair and insufficient,'” said Ronald J. Leone, executive director of the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, a leading opponent of the amendment. “We strongly believe that the Missouri Supreme Court will strike Amendment 3 from the November ballot because Big Tobacco mislead and disenfranchised voters into signing their outrageous and unfair 747% tax increase which is secretly designed to increase Big Tobacco’s market share and profits.”
Last month, a district court judge rejected that argument, saying that because the ballot title and language were rewritten after the signatures were turned in, it should be certified.
“Obviously, we are heartened by the fact that the Western District recognized that the constitutional rights involved here are those of the citizens proponents, the 330 thousand people that signed the petition and the now over 200,000 verified signatures,” said Jane Dueker, an attorney and spokesperson for the amendment. “The Western District recognized that our constitutional rights are the ones at issue here. We believe the law is clear that they do not let the application of statutes overcome fundamental rights that are provided for in the constitution.”
The legal fight’s transfer to the Supreme Court capped a busy week for Amendment 3.
Tuesday, Child Care Aware of Missouri endorsed the amendment, saying it would bring more quality early education to the state. That could have a significant impact on Missouri’s future, said L. Carol Scott, the nonprofit’s CEO.
“This initiative will bring better quality early education to thousands of Missouri children, and—as a result—set our state on a path toward lower crime, a better economy, and a more educated workforce.”
Meanwhile, Xcaliber International, an Oklahoma-based cigarette manufacturer, made some heavy investments in the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association PAC Friday, contributing $275,000 in addition to $10,000 to its own Missouri political action committee earlier in the week.
Yes on 3 received an $8,459.15 contribution from large cigarette manufacturer RAI Industries.
