The Utah legislature, set to adjourn on March 14, 2019, has referred four constitutional amendments to the 2020 ballot. HJR 1, Municipal Water Resources Amendment: This amendment would allow a municipality to commit water resources or supply water outside its boundary or exchange water resources and revise provisions surrounding municipal water rights. HJR…
On March 11, 2019, the Denver City Council voted unanimously in favor of Council Bill 19-0163, a minimum wage increase backed by Mayor Michael Hancock. The measure was designed to raise the minimum wage for city employees, city contractors, and employees working on city properties from $11.10 an hour to $13 in July 2019, $14…
Residents of Hillsborough County, Florida, approved a citizen initiative in November that implemented a 1 percent sales tax to fund road and transportation projects. Referendum 2, the initiative backed by local group All for Transportation, received 57 percent approval. Following its passage, County Commissioner Stacy White filed a lawsuit in December calling for the sales…
Members of the Texas State Legislature filed 213 constitutional amendments for the 2019 regular legislative session. Legislators were allowed to file constitutional amendments through March 8, 2019. The 2019 legislative session is expected to adjourn on May 27, 2019. Amendments approved by the legislature would appear on the ballot for voter consideration on November 5,…
Colorado Springs voters will decide Issue 1 on April 2, 2019. Issue 1 is a citizen initiative designed to allow collective bargaining for city fire employees. If approved, Issue 1 would allow uniformed city fire employees, aside from the fire chief and the fire chief’s direct reports, to select and remove a bargaining representative. The…
Proponents of a citizen initiative designed to address Phoenix’s pension debt collected enough signatures to send the issue before voters. In January, the group Responsible Budgets submitted close to 50,000 petition signatures to the city clerk’s office for an initiative it titled the “Responsible Budget Act.” On March 6, 2019, the city clerk verified that…
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…
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…
The Utah State Legislature voted Wednesday to send the Gender-Neutral Constitutional Language Amendment to the ballot for the election on November 3, 2020. The amendment was designed to remove gender-specific language in the state constitution and replace it with gender-neutral language. For example, it would make the following changes among others: “all men” to…
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…