SB 917: Post-Consumer Architectural Paint Stewardship
Sponsor: Jamie Burger
OPPOSE
Fee-funded bureaucracy & cartel dynamics.
This bill establishes a statewide paint "stewardship" system in which paint manufacturers must submit a state-approved plan to collect leftover paint. The program is paid for through a mandatory per-container fee added to paint sold in Missouri, creating a semi-permanent fee-funded structure.
What Does This Bill Do?
- Mandatory Producer Stewardship: Compels paint manufacturers to join a representative organization and prohibits the sale of paint brands that do not participate in the state-approved program.
- New Consumer Fees: Imposes a mandatory per-container "paint assessment fee" on consumers at the point of purchase to fund the statewide collection and recycling network.
- Permanent Bureaucratic Funding: Creates a non-reverting Paint Stewardship Subaccount within the Solid Waste Management Fund, ensuring fees stay within the agency rather than returning to general revenue.
Constitutional or Critical Context
This legislation grants broad antitrust and competition immunity to private producers and their representative organizations. This effectively creates a state-sanctioned cartel mechanism where competitors coordinate pricing (via fees) and operations under a protected legal shield, bypassing standard market protections for consumers.
Red Flags & Recommended Amendments
State-Compelled Market Participation
Prohibiting the sale of a legal product based on participation in a private-led stewardship program is an overreach of commerce control.
Shielded Transparency
The bill includes confidentiality language that prevents the public from evaluating whether the fees are reasonable or if the program is operating efficiently.
Act for Missouri Recommendation:
OPPOSE. This bill creates a new fee-funded bureaucracy, mandates market participation through sales restrictions, and grants broad antitrust immunity that functions as state-enabled cartel protection.