Medical marijuana, minimum wage issues to be decided during election

Steve Chapman

When Greene County voters go to the polls during the election on Tuesday, Nov. 6, they will be faced with deciding on four proposed amendments to the Missouri State Constitution, as well as three propositions.
Proposed Amendment One would change the way voting districts are redrawn and would put limits on campaign fundraising for state legislators. According to language on the ballot, state government entities predict they will spend an extra $189,000 per year if the amendment passes, but local government entities expect no financial impact.
Proposed Amendment Two and Amendment Three deal with legalizing medical marijuana in the state. Both amendments have language which reads, “Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: Allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, and create regulations and licensing (or) certification procedures for marijuana and marijuana facilities?”
The amendments, however, would each also impose a different level of taxation on medical marijuana, and how the funds raised through their respective taxes would be used. Proposed Amendment Two would impose a four-percent tax on the retail sale of marijuana, and the money would be spent on “health and care services for military veterans by the Missouri Veterans Commission, and to administer the program to license (or) certify and regulate marijuana and marijuana facilities.”
Proposed Amendment Three would impose “a 15-percent tax on the retail sale of marijuana, and a tax on the wholesale sale of marijuana flowers and leaves per dry-weight ounce to licensed facilities.” The money raised through the tax would be used to “to establish and fund a state research institute to conduct research with the purpose of developing cures and treatments for cancer and other incurable diseases or medical conditions.”
Proposed Amendment Two, if passed, is expected to generate “$18 million for state operating costs and veterans’ programs, and $6 million for local governments”; state operating costs are expected to be $7 million. Proposed Amendment Three, if passed, is expected to generate $66 million in revenue. The amendment’s language says that the initial implementation costs would be $186,000, and the annual operating costs would be $500,000.
Proposed Amendment Four would remove language limiting bingo game advertising “that a court ruled unenforceable.” It would also “allow a member of a licensed organization conducting bingo games to participate in the management of bingo games after being a member of the organization for six months instead of the current two years.” State and local governments expect no costs or savings from this amendment.
The first of the three propositions Missouri voters will look at is Proposition B. If passed, it would raise minimum wage in Missouri by $.85 per hour to $8.60, and then raise continue to raise the minimum wage by $.85 per hour each year until 2023, when the State’s minimum wage would be $12 per hour; government employers would be exempt from the increase. The proposition would also increase the penalty on employers for paying less than minimum wage, though how much is not specified.
State and local tax revenue could change by an unknown amount. Language on the ballot states tax revenue could decrease by $2.9 million or increase by $214 million, based on business decisions.
Like Proposed Amendments Two and Three, Proposition C also deals with medical marijuana. According to ballot language, Proposition C, if passed, Missouri law would be amended to “remove state prohibitions on personal use and possession of medical cannabis (marijuana) with a written certification by a physician who treats a patient diagnosed with a qualifying medical condition.” The proposition would also remove prohibitions on “growth, possession, production, and sale of medical marijuana by licensed and regulated facilities, and a facility's licensed owners and employees.”
Additionally, Proposition C would impose a two-percent sales tax on the sale of medical marijuana, and the money would be used for “veterans' services, drug treatment, early childhood education, and for public safety in cities with a medical marijuana facility.”
Language on the ballot states there is an expected initial startup cost of $2.6 million, and annual costs are expected to run $10 million. Annual state revenue is expected to be $10 million, and local government entities are expected to receive at least $152,000 in revenue per year with no annual costs.
Proposition D, if passed, will impose a tax increase of two-and-a-half cents per gallon each year, for four years, for a total tax increase of 10-cents per gallon. Beginning on July 1, 2019, the proposition would also “exempt Special Olympic, Paralympic, and Olympic prizes from state taxes, and to establish the
Emergency State Freight Bottleneck Fund.”
According to ballot language, the proposition would “generate at least $288 million annually to the State Road Fund to provide for the funding of Missouri state law enforcement, and $123 million annually to local governments for road construction and maintenance.”