Author: Jackie Mitchell
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Looking ahead to Florida’s 2020 ballot questions: what is on the ballot and what could be on the ballot?
One measure is currently certified to appear on the Florida 2020 ballot. Proponents of six measures have collected enough signatures (76,632) to trigger ballot language reviews. Proponents of the $15 Minimum Wage Initiative are about 5,000 signatures away from the 766,200 total required signatures, but also need to meet the state’s distribution requirement. On…
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Voters in Memphis approve sales tax for public safety officer benefits
Voters in Memphis, Tennessee, voted to approve an initiative that increased the city’s sales tax by an additional 0.5% (from 2.25% to 2.75%) in order to fund health benefits and pensions to the levels provided in 2014 and 2016, respectively, for fire and police public safety officers. The measure also earmarked additional revenue generated by…
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Citizen voting initiative certified to appear on Florida’s 2020 ballot
On Sept. 19, the Florida Division of Elections reported that the Citizen Requirement for Voting Initiative had qualified for the November 2020 ballot. The measure is sponsored by Florida Citizen Voters and has the support of the national Citizen Voters Inc. Florida Citizen Voters submitted 927,662 valid signatures. To qualify the measure for the ballot,…
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Utah legislature makes changes to state medical marijuana law
Utah Proposition 2, approved by voters in November 2018, was altered by the legislature in December 2018 with House Bill 3001. Among other alterations, HB 3001 removed Proposition 2’s provision allowing patients to grow their own marijuana, provided for a state-run medical marijuana dispensary system, and made changes to the list of qualifying conditions. Utah…
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Potential 2020 Florida initiatives: which have made progress?
Proponents of seven citizen initiatives in Florida have submitted enough valid signatures to trigger a ballot language review by the state supreme court. Sponsors must submit 76,632 valid signatures (10% of the number of signatures required statewide coming from at least seven of Florida’s congressional districts) to trigger a ballot language review by the state supreme…
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Signatures submitted for Mississippi medical marijuana amendment targeting 2020 ballot
Mississippians for Compassionate Care, proponents of an initiative to legalize medical marijuana, reported submitting more than 214,000 signatures as of September 5, 2019; 105,686 of which have already been certified by county clerks. Once the clerks have certified the signatures, proponents must file the entire petition with the secretary of state for signature verification. 86,185…
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Campaign finance reports published for Colorado Proposition CC
Colorado Proposition CC on the 2019 ballot would allow the state to retain excess revenue it is currently required to refund under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) to provide funding for transportation and education. One committee is registered to support Proposition CC: the Great Education Colorado Issue Committee. The support campaign has reported…
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10th Circuit Court of Appeals rules Colorado signature distribution requirements constitutional
Colorado voters approved Amendment 71 (sometimes referred to as the Raise the Bar initiative) in 2016. Amendment 71 required initiative petitioners to spread out signature gathering efforts across all of the state’s 35 senate districts, making it more difficult to collect enough signatures to qualify a constitutional amendment for the ballot. Amendment 71 also…
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Proponents of Arkansas optometry referendum petition supreme court to count signatures and certify measure for the 2020 ballot
Safe Surgery Arkansas, sponsors of the Arkansas Practice of Optometry Referendum, reported submitting more than 84,000 signatures by the July 23 deadline to qualify a veto referendum on House Bill 1251 for a statewide vote in 2020. A total of 53,491 signatures need to be valid to qualify the measure for the ballot. Safe…
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16 initiatives filed in Massachusetts targeting 2020 and 2022 ballots
Sixteen initiatives targeting the 2020 and 2022 ballot were filed with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office by the August 7, 2019, deadline. Thirteen of the 16 measures are statutory and may appear on the 2020 ballot. Three of the measures would amend the state constitution, and the soonest they could appear on the ballot is…