Author: Josh Altic
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Lawmakers and voters consider distribution requirements for initiative signature drives
Voters in at least two states, Arkansas and Montana, will decide ballot measures in 2020 concerning distribution requirements for future initiative signature petition drives. A distribution requirement is a rule requiring that petitions for a ballot measure or candidate must be signed by a minimum number or percent of voters from different political subdivisions in…
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April’s edition of the State Ballot Measure Monthly
This edition of the State Ballot Measure Monthly covers certifications from March 16 through April 15 and takes a look at Ballotpedia’s analysis of states requiring legislative approval in two sessions to refer constitutional amendments. Highlights: Ballotpedia’s analysis shows that state legislatures in states with a two-session vote requirement refer fewer constitutional amendments to…
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Idaho Governor Brad Little (R) vetoes legislation to increase ballot initiative requirements
The Idaho State Legislature approved a pair of bills last week designed to increase the state’s initiative signature requirement and its distribution requirement, reduce the allowed circulation period for initiative petitions, enact a single-subject rule, and require a fiscal impact statement. On Friday, Governor Brad Little (R) vetoed one bill—Senate Bill 1159—and announced he…
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Citizen initiative process restrictions advanced in Idaho and signed into law in Utah
On Friday, the Idaho House of Representatives approved two bills changing the state’s initiative process. On Monday, Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R) signed five bills into law making significant changes to the state’s initiative process. Here’s what each piece of legislation would do: Idaho Senate Bill 1159 would make the following changes…
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Nevada voters to decide in 2020 whether to give legislature more control over state’s higher education boards
On March 21, the Nevada State Senate gave final approval to a measure to remove the constitutional status of the Board of Regents, which governs Nevada’s state universities. The amendment—Assembly Joint Resolution 5 (AJR 5)— was previously approved in both chambers during the 2017 legislative session and by the state Assembly on March 11, 2019.…
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Arkansas legislature asks voters to continue a 0.5 percent transportation sales tax currently set to expire in 2023
On March 7, 2019, the Arkansas State Senate approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would make permanent a 0.5 percent sales tax. The tax was approved by voters in 2012 and set to expire in 2023 once certain transportation bond debt was repaid. As the state House approved the amendment on March 4, the Senate’s…
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Arkansas legislators approve bill changing the state’s initiative process
The Arkansas state legislature gave final approval to Senate Bill 346 and sent it to the governor on March 6, 2019. The bill was designed to do the following: make the state board of election commissioners, rather than the attorney general, responsible for approving a filed initiative and its ballot title and popular name; change…
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Local California voters approve West Hollywood development project and other measures concerning taxes, election dates, and property use
Across California, there were 10 local measures on the ballot on March 5, 2019, in eight local jurisdictions within Los Angeles County, El Dorado County, Fresno County, and Sonoma County. Voters in West Hollywood approved Measure B by 61 percent, authorizing a London Arts Club development project. Measure B was put on the ballot…
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Tampa voters approve 18 charter amendments, the first since 1975
Tampa voters approved all 18 charter amendments on their ballots Tuesday. The city’s charter had not been changed since 1975. The charter amendments were proposed by a Charter Review Commission and sent to the ballot by a vote of the city council. A number of the charter amendments proposed technical changes or changes that…
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An analysis of the history of veto referendums in the U.S.
Between 1906 and 2018, 521 veto referendums appeared on the ballot in the 23 states that allow them. Voters repealed 340 (65.3 percent) of the targeted laws and upheld 181 (34.7 percent) of them. A veto referendum is a type of citizen-initiated ballot measure that asks voters whether to uphold or repeal a law…