Citizen Blog
California’s Fair Political Practices Commission meets today to consider new rules regarding disclosure of ballot measure financing, especially funding for petition drives to place initiatives and referendums on the ballot.
From the LA Times Here
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Students at Lakewood High School in Lakewood, Ohio seek to change the dress code for the school district which forbids “hoodie” sweatshirts. Lakewood student Andrew Nolan began the petition on November 28 citing concerns for the health of students that are required to go outdoors to change classes during the course of a day.
The ban on the garments came about due to security concerns after a student had tried to hide his identity inside the hooded shirt and has been in place now for several years.
Students set a goal of 2,000 signatures and the petition is nearly a quarter of the way there.
View the story from the Cleveland Sun Post-Herald
The controversial Right-to-Work bills that today passed the Michigan Legislature cannot be put to a voter referendum or “people’s veto,” because legislators added a $1 million appropriation to the bills. Under Michigan law, appropriation bills are not subject to the citizens’ referendum powers. The appropriation goes to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs for implementing the legislation and dissemination of information regarding the bills.
Last week, a Michigan House panel passed a package of five bills to restrict future recalls of elected officials by citizens. One bill would allow recalls only in either May or November (HB 6061) and another (HB 6063) prevents recalls from being initiated in the six months after the beginning of or prior to the end of an elected official's term. That latter bill “makes it nearly impossible to recall for a two-year term,” observed Rep. Barb Byrum.
Earlier this summer, the City Council in Springfield, Missouri, hurriedly placed two charter amendments on yesterday’s Aug. 7 primary election ballot hoping to make it far more difficult to petition a citizen initiative onto the local ballot. Voters defeated one of the measures, Charter Amendment 2, by a 51 to 49 percent vote, but passed the other, Charter Amendment 3, by 52 to 48 percent.
A poll released today by Citizens in Charge Foundation shows a massive shift among California voters, when they are provided with more accurate information on Proposition 28.
“The polling shows clearly that giving voters more precise information in the ballot title dramatically changes their view on Prop 28. A recent poll using the official ballot title showed better than two-to-one support for the measure, while our poll with a more accurate title showed voters opposing Prop 28 by a nearly two-to-one margin,” said Citizens in Charge Foundation Chairman Michael Foudy.
Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” California Governor Jerry Brown was asked by host David Gregory whether the state was less governable today than when Brown was governor between 1975 and 1983. Brown argued that the state was “more governable” and, moreover, was better off than the federal government because in California “we can appeal directly to the people through the initiative process.”
DAVID GREGORY: Quickly, this is your third term as California governor, is it less governable now than it used to be?
One hundred years ago, in 1912, Washington citizens adopted the state’s initiative petition process. Tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 17) four initiative experts will discuss that process at a forum sponsored by The Foley Institute, Washington State University and the Washington Secretary of State. The event, entitled, “A Century of Citizen Initiatives in Washington: Are they still democratic?” will be held at the General Administration Auditorium on Olympia’s Capitol Campus, with a buffet lunch beginning at 11:30 am and the program lasting until 1:00 pm.
Today, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, is unconstitutional. The ballot initiative was passed by California voters in November 2008 and challenged in federal court by two gay couples. The Ninth Circuit decision upholds the ruling by retired U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who first struck down the ballot measure in 2010.
In a separate decision, the appeals court refused to invalidate Walker’s ruling on the grounds that he should have disclosed he was in a long term same-sex relationship. ProtectMarriage, the backers of Prop 8, are expected to appeal Tuesday’s decision to a larger panel of the 9th Circuit or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Second House Amendment Committee, a new group formed by initiative rights activists in Nebraska, filed an initiative constitutional amendment this week to lower the signature requirements for qualifying citizen initiatives. The group also filed a campaign finance registration, which is required once at least $5,000 has been raised by a ballot committee.
“I am confident that with the dedication of our volunteers and the commitment I have secured from people who are friends to petition rights, this issue will be on the November ballot,” committee member Kent Bernbeck told reporters.
So far, 24 states have certified 59 ballot questions for 2012 statewide ballots according to the latest compilation by Ballotpedia.
Voters across the country will have the opportunity to voice their opinion on a variety of subjects like health care, affirmative action, immigration, term limits, education, property taxes, voter IDs and abortion just to name a few.
You can view the comprehensive list of measures that have qualified for statewide ballots so far here.
Ballotpedia’s final analysis on donations to all 2011 statewide ballot measure campaigns has been released; the donations add up $85 million.
The report reveals some interesting information like the fact that the state with the highest contributions from all campaign sides from all ballot measures was in Ohio. The least amount of contributions was in Arkansas.
You can also find an overview of the contributions from supporters & opponents, a ranking of ballot measures from the most to the least contributions, and the ranking of political topic contributions where “labor” shows the most donations in Ohio on Issue 2.
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. The straightest line in politics is a ballot initiative.
In January, Paul began working for the Liberty Initiative Fund (LIF). For many years, he has endeavored to protect the citizen initiative process (and that work will continue with Citizens in Charge Foundation & Citizens in Charge). But now he’s taking the initiative — the express train to freedom — by helping great folks all across the country place measures for greater freedom and government accountability on the ballot.
Our partner organization, Citizens in Charge Foundation - a 501(c)3 non-profit
organization -Â is currently accepting applications for 2012 internships. We are looking for undergraduates, grad students and recent grads from all majors as well as law students.
Today is my first day as the President & CEOÂ Â 
of Citizens in Charge Foundation and Citizens in Charge - I am already hard at work building on the successes we’ve enjoyed together over the past three years and, with your support, looking forward to making even greater strides as we kick-off 2012.