By Bob Christie | Capitol Media Services
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday advanced a measure that would ask voters to take away even more of their own power to write their own laws after persuading them last year to significantly limit their power of the initiative.
The voter referral approved along party lines by the Senate would require backers of initiatives to collect signatures from all 30 legislative districts for an initiative, constitutional amendment or voter referendum to make the ballot.
Currently, the constitution requires signatures from 10% of the people who voted at the last gubernatorial election for an initiative to make the ballot. That would be about 260,000 for 2024.
A constitutional amendment requires the signatures of 15% of those who voted; putting a bill passed by the Legislature on hold so it can be referred to the ballot takes 5%.
