The Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a trial court decision that left intact a proposed ballot initiative to raise taxes on tobacco products, despite the failure of the State Auditor to conduct a study of the fiscal impact of the initiative upon local governments as required by Missouri’s initiative and referendum law. The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) had filed a brief with the court in June urging it to overturn the trial court. In a related legal development, the elections board determined that the measure did not receive a sufficient number of signatures to qualify for the ballot.