Citizens in Charge

The Sacramento Bee reports that the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 448 and sent it to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk yesterday. Brown now has 12 days to sign or veto the bill.

SB 448 requires only persons circulating initiative, referendum or recall petitions to wear a large badge or sign on their chest proclaiming that they are a “PAID SIGNATURE GATHERER,” if they are compensated in any way for their efforts.

At the Fox & Hounds website, Joel Fox reports that “signatures calling for a referendum on the so-called Amazon tax law requiring out-of-state Internet companies to collect sales taxes from California buyers are piling up.”

If enough signatures are collected in the short 90-day window permitted for referendum petitions — and Fox is predicting that Amazon’s signature drive will, in fact, finish early — the tax would be stayed from going into effect until the voters get to decide the matter at the June 2012 primary election.

[From The Missouri Record]

Established politicians have a vested interest in opposing the right of the people to pass laws through the petition process.  Missouri is no different. As Citizens in Charge wrote in 2010:

In all, Wisconsin voters recalled nine state senators, three Democrats and six Republicans, forcing them to stand for new elections. So far, one incumbent D has been re-elected and four of six Rs have kept their seats, with two GOP senators defeated. The last two districts vote today, with two incumbent Democrats on the ballot against Republican challengers.

An article in today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on the broad-based coalition supporting a new initiative – the Your Vote Counts Act – that would make it harder for legislators to overturn an initiative without sending it back to the people for their approval.

Citizens in Charge has endorsed the ballot measure and is working with individuals and groups in the Show Me state, all across the political spectrum, to gather the signatures required to place the measure on the 2012 ballot.

“Unprecedented” is a word that seems to get unprecedented use these days. But today’s six recall elections in Wisconsin, which could flip partisan control of the state senate, truly are part of an exceptional recall effort.

As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

Since 1908, there have been 20 recorded state legislative recall elections held in the United States, according to one recall expert. Wisconsin is in the process of holding nine such elections in the space of a month.

With California’s initiative process under attack from all sides, Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee concludes that the state Democrat party is out to destroy voters’ petition rights:

Do California Democrats want to eviscerate the initiative process, or merely smother it to death with a blanket of supposed reforms?

The party has almost complete control of state government and apparently doesn’t want to contend with pesky ballot measures. So this year – the 100th anniversary of the initiative, the referendum and the recall – it has declared war.

Earlier today I blogged about the fight over letting voters take red-light cameras to the ballot in Bellingham, Washington, as well as major votes by officials in Los Angeles and Houston. Now just moments ago from the BanCams Washington State Facebook Page came good news for initiative supporters:

Long-time Washington State initiative activist Tim Eyman has slammed Bellingham officials for signing away the city’s right to defend its voters agains traffic camera operators.

Eyman says the mayor, the city council and the company are “colluding” together to make sure that citizens don’t get a chance to vote on red light cameras. You can listen to the audio here.

San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio sent a complaint letter over the weekend to the California Fair Political Practices Commission alleging that Californians Against Identity Theft is running afoul of state disclosure laws.

Citizens in Charge Foundation just issued the following statement applauding Governor Brown for Vetoing Senate Bill 168:

Californians can thank Governor Jerry Brown for protecting their initiative and referendum rights. Today, Brown vetoed Senate Bill 168, which would have made it a crime to pay a person circulating a petition, or even offer anything of value or any  incentive, based on the number of signatures gathered on a petition.

As Gov. Brown argued in his veto message, SB 168 would have make ”˜productivity goals a crime’ and ”˜drive up the cost of circulating ballot measures, thereby further favoring the wealthiest interests.’

A shady group calling itself “Californians Against Identity Theft,” or CAIT, is spending big money trying to scare voters into giving up their petition rights.  Radio ads broadcasting in the Sacramento area tell voters that signing an initiative or referendum petition could result in identity theft and claim that petition information is sent overseas.

You can listen to the ad here (link to open/download MP3 from group website).

Pete Peterson, Executive Director of the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership at Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy, is the latest to join in the effort to convince California Gov. Jerry Brown to veto Senate Bill 168.