Introduced
by
To place before voters in the next general election a constitutional amendment to revise the current prohibition on citizen referendums challenging bills that contain an appropriation. The measure would establish that the ban only applies to bills that substantially fund one or more state departments, or which are needed to close current state budget shortfalls. A 2001 Supreme Court ruling interpreted the provision to prohibit referendums on any bill containing an appropriation. In several instances since then, the legislature has deliberately added modest appropriations to controversial bills which, without the appropriation, would likely have been challenged by a referendum.<br> In addition, the proposal would change the process for initiated legislation, which allows citizens to petition for the legislature to either pass a proposed law within 40 days, or else let it be placed on the ballot. This measure would restrict the legislature from passing an initiated law proposal (thereby keeping it off the ballot) and then amending or repealing the measure in the same two-year session, by requiring the amendments to get the same 3/4 supermajority vote in the House and Senate that amending an initiated law enacted by popular vote requires.
Referred to the Committee on Elections and Government Reform
