Introduced
by
To place before voters in the next general election a Constitutional amendment to require petitions for citizen initiatives to create a law, or a referendum disapproving a just-passed law, to be signed by at least 100 registered voters each in at least 42 counties. Under current law there is no requirement to collect signatures in a certain number of districts (the aggregate total number just has to be submitted from anywhere in the state). Also, to establish that the current provision in the state Constitution prohibiting a referendum on a bill containing an appropriation, only applies to bills that substantially fund one or more state departments. A recent Supreme Court ruling interpreted the provision to prohibit referendums on any bill containing an appropriation. In at least one instance since then, the legislature has deliberately added a modest appropriation to a controversial bill which, without the appropriation, would likely have been subject to a referendum.
Referred to the Committee on Campaign and Election Oversight
