Citizens in Charge

Citizens in Charge, a partner organization of Citizens in Charge Foundation, issued the following press release this morning:

(LAKE RIDGE, VA) – Today, Citizens in Charge, a transpartisan national voter rights group focused on the ballot initiative and referendum process, urges Maine Governor John Baldacci to veto LD 1730, which passed the Maine House on Monday, and is currently on his desk. If signed into law, LD 1730 would require anyone who intends to pay campaign workers to collect signatures on a petition to register with the state.

Yesterday, Citizens in Charge President Paul Jacob spoke at a joint press conference in Salt Lake City, Utah with Utahns for Ethical Government calling on Utah Governor Gary Herbert to veto a bill on his desk that will restrict citizen rights in the state. From the Salt Lake Tribune:

Regular readers will recall that Trevor Ford and I traveled to Big Spring, TX back in January to help residents of the city obtain justice, and I am now happy to say that a settlement has been reached between the Concerned Citizens Council of Big Spring and the city of Big Spring, TX.

(Salt Lake City, Utah) – Today, Paul Jacob, President of Citizens in Charge, the only national transpartisan voter rights group dedicated to protecting and expanding the ballot initiative process, spoke at a press conference with Utahns for Ethical Government on the steps of the capitol rotunda in Salt Lake City, Utah and called on Governor Herbert to protect the initiative rights of Utah citizens by vetoing House Bill 112. This bill will have a chilling effect on the initiative process in Utah, and make it more difficult to get a measure placed on the ballot.

Citizens in Charge, a partner organization of Citizens in Charge Foundation, issued the following media advisory this afternoon:

(Salt Lake City, Utah) – Paul Jacob, President of Citizens in Charge, the only national transpartisan voter rights groups dedicated to protecting and expanding the ballot initiative process, will be speaking at a press conference in the Utah Capitol Rotunda at noon on Monday, March 29 to call on Governor Herbert to protect the initiative rights of Utah citizens by vetoing Senate Bill 275 and House Bill 112.

As Chairman of Texans for Initiative & Referendum Rights and Citizens in Charge Foundation Texas Citizen State Coordinator, I got to kick off the “Texans Taking Charge” speaking tour in an address to the Kingwood Tea Party Society on Why Texans Need Initiative & Referendum Rights.  One of the society’s leaders, Robin Lennon, welcomed me, and the entire presentation was videotaped and it can be found on the Kingwood Tea Party Society website.

(Augusta, ME) - Today several of Maine’s grassroots activists and community organizers united in protest to an unconstitutional bill moving through the state legislature which would hinder Mainers’ initiative & people’s veto referendum rights.

Mary Adams, Chair of the 2006 Taxpayer Bill of Rights Referendum, and Dana Cote, President of the National Worksite Benefit Group are among the state leaders who have sent a coalition letter to the Maine legislature asking them to vote “no” on LD 1730, and vote “yes” for Maine’s First Amendment rights.

With last nights passage in the House of the Democrat’s healthcare bill, many are looking for ways to block it in their states. In Michigan a petition drive has been launched to exempt the state from the overhaul of healthcare.

Back in January, Citizens in Charge Foundation awarded The Citizen Power Campaign with our Lilburne Award for that month. The California campaign received the award for their use of new petition signature gathering technology that allows citizens to sign a petition via smart-phone.

Since this is such a new and different way of gathering petition signatures, it was going to inevitably land in court:

Innovation is the key to success right?

In Stanton, California one City Councilman is pretty upset about the fact that the state has been taking coming in and taking local tax revenue. So upset in fact, that he is working on getting a measure on the state-wide ballot to stop it from happening. He’s got a great way to make it quick and easy for people to sign the petition:

While banning campaign workers from being paid based on how many signatures they collect on a petition has been struck down as unconstitutional in five different states, eight states still have such bans or other restrictions in place. Payment-per-signature allows citizens greater certainty in judging the cost of a petition effort, and states that have enacted bans have seen the cost of qualifying an initiative rise considerably.

Here at the foundation we are constantly getting requests for information on petitioning rights from journalists, lawmakers, scholars, and legal experts. One of the frequently asked questions is “How many states recognize petitioning rights?” Since states vary widely in what rights they recognize, the answer to that isn’t so simple.