Citizens in Charge

Today several state and national grassroot organizations are denouncing California Senate Bill 34 aimed at silencing voters by restricting the citizen initiative process. In an open letter to the California State Legislature, citizens are speaking out on the legislation that targets their First Amendment rights.

“Senate Bill 34 is bad public policy,” said Paul Jacob, President of Citizens In Charge. “Not only does SB 34 aim to silence California voters by restricting the ballot initiative process, it criminalizes activists who want to express their First Amendment rights.”

Taxpayer groups are loudly speaking out against SB 34, because its passage will likely create additional financial burdens to a state already dealing with a financial crisis. The statue is likely to face a court challenge in California as it has already been found unconstitutional in several states including Ohio, Washington, Idaho, Maine, and Mississippi. A legal debate of the statute in court will likely cost taxpayers thousands of dollars for the staff time of the attorney general’s office, as well as the challenger’s legal fees if the State of California does not prevail.

The full text of the letter can be found below:

To the Members of the California Legislature:

California voters enjoy a crucial voice in their government through the ballot initiative process. A bill now pending in the Assembly would seek to silence that voice by raising barriers to citizens petitioning to put ballot measures to a vote. As organizations representing tens of thousands of Californians, we urge you to protect the voters’ voice and vote NO on Senate Bill 34.

SB 34 bans paying people who circulate petitions for initiatives, referendums, and recalls on a per signature basis for those people they get to sign. This restriction raises the cost of hiring petitioners and decreases their incentive to reach as many voters as possible with the campaign’s message.

In 2006, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a payment per signature ban saying, “The prohibitions on per-signature payments will make it more difficult for grass-roots organizations to get the necessary signatures in the time allotted. As I have said before making the process more difficult may be fine for those opposed to the initiative process or those who profit from it, but it is not for everyday Californians with an idea for reform.”

If SB 34 becomes law, the State of California will be immediately liable for a costly lawsuit challenging its constitutionality; something taxpayers can hardly afford. The federal courts have generally struck down bans on per signature payments. The specific ban in SB 34 is one of the most severe ever considered.

While bans in Oregon, New York and North Dakota have been upheld, similar bans in Ohio, Washington, Idaho, Maine, and Mississippi have been struck down. In 2008, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Ohio’s ban on payment per signature, saying that it “burden[ed] the core political speech of initiative proponents by making it more difficult to retain circulators to communicate their political message, thus limiting the size of the audience it can reach and making it less likely that they will gather the number of signatures needed to place an initiative on the ballot.”

Furthermore, SB 34 also criminalizes politics by imposing heavy fines and prison sentences on citizens petitioning their government. Anyone who pays someone per signature can be fined up to $25,000. Anyone who is paid per signature can be fined $1,000. Both could get a year in already overcrowded jails. Does the legislature really want to make criminals out of citizens looking to utilize their First Amendment right to speak out on an issue?

Senate Bill 34 is bad public policy. We hope that you will protect the voices of California citizens by voting NO on SB 34.

Sincerely,

Paul Jacob, Citizens in Charge

Grover Norquist, Americans For Tax Reform

David Wolfe, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

Lewis Uhler , National Tax Limitation Committee

Jack Dean, Fullerton Association of Concerned Taxpayers

Tony Bushala, Friends of Fullerton’s Future