Citizens in Charge

Today the Texas Senate had a hearing on Bill 690, which significantly increases the number of signatures needed to get an initiative on the local ballot and creates an unconstitutional hurdle to the process.

Critics of the legislations, rumored to have been requested by the Austin Chamber of Commerce, are worried that the new hurdles will restrict citizens from placing an item on the ballot by making it too hard and expensive for an average citizen.  Local activists are worried that they, the “little guy” will become a non-entity if this legislation passes.

According to Independent Texan Bill 960 will raise the signature requirement from 5%  to 10% of registered voters and remove the current 20,000 signature cap.

The bill also has an unconstitutional provision requiring petition circulators to be registered to vote in the municipality they are circulating a petition. This residency restriction was declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in 1999 in the case Buckley v. ACLF, as it violates the First Amendment.

Local activists feel Bill 960 comes as a direct response to the failed Proposition 2, a local citizen-led effort to stop the development by the City of Austin of a $65 million luxury shopping mall (The Domain). Even though the proposition failed, some say the city and large business interests, want to ensure similar initiatives don’t get on any city ballot in the Texas. (NOTE: Texas only has the initiative and referendum process at the city level, not the state.)

Ballot initiatives are important measures that help ensure a balanced government. Even when an issue does not win at the ballot box, the public benefits from the discourse of ideas and a healthy debate.

It makes you wonder why Senator Jeff Wentworth and his colleagues are supporting legislation that undercuts democratic ideals. Why make it harder for average citizens to take part in their local government and the democratic process?

Historically the initiative process has not been overused by citizens in the state, a common complaint against the process. In the last 10 years only 4 initiatives have been placed on the ballot in Austin. None has passed.

A similar initiative (charter amendment) will be on the ballot in Dallas this may aimed to stop a taxpayer funded luxury hotel.

Even the city government realizes the impact of the new legislation on its citizens. The Independent Texan writes:

The City of Austin’s manual for petition review states that the 10% requirement that exists today for some initiatives is virtually impossible to meet: “… it would be difficult for citizens to get enough signatures prior to the effective date of an ordinance to qualify for a referendum. Therefore, it is unlikely [the office of the city clerk] will ever receive a referendum petition.”

It shouldn’t be more difficult to get on a local ballot than a statewide or federal ballot in Texas:
• It only takes 500 signatures for a person in Texas to get on the ballot to run for Congress.
• It only takes 1% of the presidential voters in Texas to get statewide ballot access for an independent candidate (about 60,000 signatures).
• It only takes 1% of the gubernatorial voters in Texas for a new political party to get ballot access (about 45,000 signatures).

The group closes the email saying: ” Stop the big developer .. from trying to snuff out any opposition to their developer scams on taxpayers.”

Makes you wonder, who is fighting for the little guy?