Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is trying to convince the state General Accountability Office to increase the cost of an initiative petition seeking to include abortion rights in the constitution, according to records obtained by The Independent.
Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick rejected the changes Bailey requested, arguing that the Attorney General was trying to include “inaccurate information” in the financial summary that would appear on the ballot.
As the drama unfolds over the cost of the amendment, the Attorney General’s Office has approved a ballot outline for the Right to Abortion Initiative petition, which allows for “unsafe, unregulated and unrestricted abortions.” said that However, due to a deadlock over the fiscal note, the wording has yet to be made public.
In correspondence obtained through the Missouri Sunshine Act, Bailey denied Fitzpatrick’s financial briefs. It cited several state agencies that concluded that the state “will face no costs or savings” as a result of the proposed constitutional amendment.
The abstract estimates that one local government agency will lose at least $51,000 in reduced tax revenue, and opponents of the proposal argue it could lead to a significant loss of state revenue.
Bailey wrote on April 10 that the financial notes should be in the billions.
“…the impact on Missouri is likely to be very dramatic, but is not reflected in the submissions received from state and local agencies, so the accounting notes on which the summary relies are legally inadequate is,” he wrote.
Fitzpatrick refuted each of Bailey’s claims, saying on April 21 that he was vehemently opposed to abortion and said the initiative’s petition would cost the state billions of dollars, but “it won’t.” Let’s go,” he wrote.
“By submitting an accounting note summary that you know contains inaccurate information, you are in violation of your duty as the state auditor to prepare an accurate accounting note summary,” Fitz said. Patrick writes.
Chuck Hatfield, a longtime City of Jefferson attorney who worked in the Attorney General’s Office under Democrat Jay Nixon, tweeted on Thursday. Bailey’s attempt to change the financial summary seemed unheard of.
“In 30 years of watching ballot titles, I have never heard of AG trying to change the calculations in the auditor’s accounting notes.
The auditors have faced resistance from Bailey over the financial brief, but the ballot brief, written by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, was approved by the Attorney General on April 24.
In a summary, Ashcroft said the proposed constitutional amendment would allow “unsafe, unregulated and unrestricted abortion” and “revoke Missouri’s long-standing law protecting the right to life.” It is written that it includes clauses such as
Eleven versions of an initiative petition seeking to roll back Missouri’s abortion ban by adding protections for abortion procedures to the Missouri Constitution were filed in Ashcroft’s office in early March.
The proposal would amend the Constitution to declare that “no government shall violate the fundamental right of man to reproductive liberty.” This includes “prenatal care, childbirth, postnatal care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage care and respectful childbirth conditions”. Penalties for both patients and health care providers seeking reproductive care will be outlawed.
An Ashcroft spokesman said the ballot summary cannot be finalized and made public until the secretary of state obtains a financial summary from the auditor.
Fitzpatrick’s spokesman Brandon Alexander declined to comment further.
A spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office said, “Out-of-state money is working to usurp the legislative process to endanger the life of an unborn child currently being protected in Missouri. We will protect the sanctity of life.” To that end, we will continue to use every means at our disposal.”
“Dubious Methodology”
Daniel Shuler
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While the Auditor’s Office is a partisan position, the process of establishing the potential costs of questions that come up on statewide ballots is not.
Before a petition for a proposed initiative is distributed for signature, the Secretary of State sends it to the Comptroller. Auditors are required by law to prepare accounting notes and summaries of accounting notes. state or local government agency; ”
The Office of the Auditor consults with state and local government agencies and receives comments from those who support or oppose the bill. The information will be evaluated and the Secretariat will prepare a summary for her 50-word treasurer memo and ballot.
A summary cannot create prejudice for or against a proposal.
Accounting memos and summaries are sent to the Attorney General, who is tasked with approving the legal content and format of the summaries. After the Attorney General certifies the auditor’s work, which is usually a formality, it is passed on to the Secretary of State.
Bailey argues that both the Department of Social Services and the Department of Revenue, which oversee state Medicaid programs, were wrong when they told the Comptroller’s Office that if the petition for the initiative were passed, the state would not be charged. .
The Attorney General, as several opponents of the Abortion Rights Petition argued in a letter to Fitzpatrick, said the proposed amendment would jeopardize federal Medicaid funding and cost states at least $12 billion annually. We believe that it can lead to losses. He also argues that the potential loss of tax revenue should be reflected because “the abortion of a Missouri-born fetus will adversely affect the future tax base.”
Fitzpatrick said the information obtained from the DSS and DOR was “clear and did not raise additional questions or appear incomplete.” Yet, to address Bailey’s concerns, he still spoke directly with the directors of both agencies and the state’s Medicaid director.
“Based on my experience in state government as a legislator, state treasurer, state auditor, and my overall knowledge and understanding of state budgets and Medicaid funding, the state’s $12.5 billion annual Medicaid funding is at risk. There is no argument that it has been exposed to,” writes Fitpatrick.
“Furthermore, the legal opinions presented to me, including yours, provide no analysis to support the claim that Missouri Medicaid funds may be lost due to enforcement violations of federal law, and It is inaccurate to say so in the financial notes summary.”
A fiscal note prepared by Fitzpatrick includes the local government entity estimating costs of “at least $51,000 annually in reduced tax revenue”. It is derived from an estimate that it would suffer an immediate financial loss of $51,000 because of the expected future civil abortions in human beings.
Bailey wants the accounting firm to make statewide estimates, writes Fitzpatrick, which is inaccurate and inappropriate.
“The National Audit Office, in the face of knowledge that such responses are unreasonable or contain questionable methodologies or unidentifiable sources of information for financial evaluation, have been provided by supporters or opponents. You don’t have to parrot your financial answer, and you shouldn’t,” he wrote. right. ”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the fiscal note had not been approved and submitted to the Secretary of State.
Both Bailey and Fitzpatrick are Republicans and are new to the job.
Fitzpatrick is a former state legislator and was appointed Missouri Treasurer in 2019. He was re-elected as Treasury Secretary the following year and was elected as an auditor last November.
Bailey became attorney general in January after being appointed Gov. Mike Parson to replace U.S. Senator-elected Eric Schmidt.
This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent.