California

California

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:

The families of three hikers missing and presumed dead in Yosemite National Park launched a petition drive, hoping to expand the search for their loved ones.

Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/04/1803323/family-of-missing-yosemite-hikers.html#ixzz1UAPBHwRS

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.

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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.

Californians can thank Governor Jerry Brown for protecting their initiative and referendum rights. Monday, 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.’

The proposition, which qualified for the ballot in May, seeks to criminalize anyone practicing circumcision on boys under the age of 18 within San Francisco. A handful of proponents of the anti-circumcision ballot measure that is set for November’s election disrupted a July 21 news conference announcing state legislation that might halt the proposition before San Franciscan residents have a chance to vote on it.

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.’

CAITA 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).

California pot advocates are taking another stab at legalization with a proposed measure that would dictate pot growers be regulated in the same way as microbrewers and vintners. Home growers would be be left alone, sales would be taxed, and nobody would be charged criminally for possession under the proposed law.

The Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act of 2012 has been certified, which means that backers can begin gathering the more than half-million signatures they’d need to put it before voters.

Pete PetersonPete 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.

In his daily Common Sense commentary, Citizens in Charge President and long-time petition rights activist Paul Jacob talks about the California Legislature’s proposed ban on per-signature payment for petition circulators. In the piece he points out an interesting fact about fraud in the state:

California is wild and crazy, fruity and nutty. Not in Hollywood, but in Sacramento.

The state’s enormous prison population ”” so large that the Feds recently ordered California to release overcrowded prisoners ”” feeds an otherwise expensive prison system, straining the state’s strapped budget.

So what did Golden State solons go and do?

The Year of the Referendum?

Mon, Jul 25 2011 by Staff

It just might be the year of the referendum. After I blogged last week about referendum petitions going to the ballot in Maryland and Ohio I noticed a piece about several major referendum efforts in California. From Capital Notes:

The initiative may the most popular form of direct democracy in California, but 2012 has the potential for the spotlight to be recast on one of the lesser known of the powers created a century ago: the referendum.

Writing for Bay Area NBC’s “Prop Zero” blog, Joe Matthews joins the growing chorus of voices against Senate Bill 168:

Already a playground for rich people and groups, [under SB 168] the initiative process will be even more dominated by the very wealthy.