By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Ahwatukee Foothills News
Republican lawmakers are making yet another bid to make it more difficult for those proposing their own laws to gather sufficient signatures.
Legislation awaiting action in both the House and Senate would keep in place existing laws that spell out how many names are required to put a measure on the ballot. That is based on a percentage of people who voted in the last gubernatorial election.
HCR 2005 and SCR 1023 would add the additional burden of having to obtain signatures in each of the state’s 30 legislative districts — and in proportion to the number of gubernatorial votes in each district. Democrats are universally opposed, calling this yet another effort by Republicans and business interests to make the initiative process more difficult.
