FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 28, 2012

Cisse Spragins, Ph.D.
Cell: 612 309 9232
Email: chair@lpmo.org

Missouri LP Position on Ballot Issues

Constitutional Amendment 3 (Proposed by the General Assembly, SJR 51)

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to change the current nonpartisan selection of supreme court and court of appeals judges to a process that gives the governor increased authority to:

• appoint a majority of the commission that selects these court nominees; and
• appoint all lawyers to the commission by removing the requirement that the governor's appointees be nonlawyers?

There are no estimated costs or savings expected if this proposal is approved by voters.

Currently higher court judges are appointed by the governor from a list of finalists selected by a non-elected judicial commission. This amendment realigns the commission’s tenure to that of the sitting governor’s term and allows the governor to appoint the majority of the commission.

Libertarian nominee for Attorney General, Dave Browning, is in favor of the amendment, stating "The courts have managed to get out of responsibility to the political process. Judges with no political understanding are just as bad as judges with no history of representing individuals. At least with these changes, there will be slightly more accountability to the political process." The Missouri LP executive committee, however, fell short of formally endorsing or opposing the amendment, due to the fact that the much larger problem is far too many bad laws, and did not feel this change would result in any great improvement.

Proposition A (Proposed by a citizen’s initiative petition.)

Shall Missouri law be amended to:

• allow any city not within a county (the City of St. Louis) the option of transferring certain obligations and control of the city’s police force from the board of police commissioners currently appointed by the governor to the city and establishing a municipal police force;
• establish certain procedures and requirements for governing such a municipal police force including residency, rank, salary, benefits, insurance, and pension; and
• prohibit retaliation against any employee of such municipal police force who reports conduct believed to be illegal to a superior, government agency, or the press?

State governmental entities estimated savings will eventually be up to $500,000 annually. Local governmental entities estimated annual potential savings of $3.5 million; however, consolidation decisions with an unknown outcome may result in the savings being more or less than estimated.

The Missouri LP executive committee, did not endorse or oppose the proposition. The original reason for state control dates back to the Civil War and is no longer relevant. Having said that, it is not clear that this change will do much, if anything, to increase citizen control, or thwart the alarming growth of the police and surveillance state, which are more pertinent issues. It is suspected that the City of St. Louis is primarily interested in getting its hands on the police pension fund, which is currently managed by the State. The potential cost savings could be of benefit if they were to pan out.

Proposition B: **Vote NO** (Proposed by a citizen’s initiative petition.)

Shall Missouri law be amended to:

• create the Health and Education Trust Fund with proceeds of a tax of $0.0365 per cigarette and 25% of the manufacturer's invoice price for roll-your-own tobacco and 15% for other tobacco products;
• use Fund proceeds to reduce and prevent tobacco use and for elementary, secondary, college, and university public school funding; and
• increase the amount that certain tobacco product manufacturers must maintain in their escrow accounts, to pay judgments or settlements, before any funds in escrow can be refunded to the tobacco product manufacturer and create bonding requirements for these manufacturers?

Estimated additional revenue to state government is $283 million to $423 million annually with limited estimated implementation costs or savings. The revenue will fund only programs and services allowed by the proposal. The fiscal impact to local governmental entities is unknown. Escrow fund changes may result in an unknown increase in future state revenue.

The Missouri LP strongly opposes this proposition, which amounts to a massive tax increase and an egregious attempt at social engineering. It also strongly questions if the funds will actually be used for the programs listed. The millions of dollars that came to the state from the 90’s tobacco settlement were mostly used to fund general government growth and spending, not cessation programs. "While liberty unites, this is just another example of how government divides, in this case pitting smokers against non-smokers," stated Missouri LP chair, Dr. Cisse Spragins. "Government can never be reduced to a remotely reasonable size and real problems be corrected until individual’s personal choices are removed from the political debate."

Proposition E: **Vote YES** (Proposed by the General Assembly SB 464)

Shall Missouri Law be amended to prohibit the Governor or any state agency, from establishing or operating state-based health insurance exchanges unless authorized by a vote of the people or by the legislature?

No direct costs or savings for state and local governmental entities are expected from this proposal. Indirect costs or savings related to enforcement actions, missed federal funding, avoided implementation costs, and other issues are unknown.

The Missouri LP Executive Committee supports this proposition. This issue has come forth in highly partisan manner, yet the committee is pleased that the courts rejected the biased language proposed by the SOS and put forth the clear language presented. "While we tire of the Republican’s hypocrisy on health care, from Bush’s radical expansion of Medicare to their current presidential nominee being the de facto creator of the Obamacare model, we still feel the proposition is worthwhile to support," stated Spragins. "The concept that government is somehow needed to create a place where buyer and sellers of a product can get together is utterly absurd. At this proposition will not allow it to happen unilaterally in Missouri."

Voters who recognize that the two-party duopoly has jointly led the country to the brink of economic disaster and who are tired of never-ending foreign wars and a ballooning big brother police state will find common ground with the Libertarian Party. The Libertarian Party is America's third largest political party and has been fighting for smaller government since 1971. The Missouri Libertarian Party has been a recognized party in the state, with continuous ballot access since 1992. For further information visit www.lpmo.org or call 877-Vote-4-Us.