California
The first step in the process of qualifying an initiative is to
write the text of the proposed law. The measure’s proponents in many
cases may obtain assistance from the Legislative Counsel in drafting the
measure. To do so, the proponents must present the idea for the law to
the Legislative Counsel, and the request for a draft of the proposed law
must be signed by 25 or more electors. The Legislative Counsel will then
draft the proposed law if it is determined that there is a reasonable
Date Initiative language can be submitted: Any time
Signatures tied to vote of which office: Governor
Next Gubernatorial election: 2010
Votes cast for governor in last election: 8,899,059
Net number of signatures required: 8% of votes cast for Governor for a
constitutional amendment (711,925) and 5% for a statute (444,953)
Distribution requirement: None
Circulation period: 150 days
You have full Initiative & Referendum rights. Citizens can pass laws they write or suspend a statute passed by the Legislature by collecting enough petition signatures to place the statute on the statewide ballot for a decision by the voters. Voters can also initiate constitutional amendments by Initiative.
Poll:
See the results of a poll on support for statewide initiative & referendum here.
Californians rightly credit Progressive-era Governor Hiram Johnson with
leading the successful fight for direct democracy in the Golden State, but
few are familiar with the critical groundwork that had been laid by Dr.
John Randolph Haynes. A Philadelphian who held doctorates in both
medicine and philosophy, Haynes moved west to Los Angeles in 1887, at
the age of 34. He established a successful medical practice, counting
many prominent Southern Californians among his patients, invested his
After the most expensive campaign on a social issue in history, the state Supreme Court in San Francisco will hold a hearing on the strength of the same-sex marriage ban, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
Students who spearheaded a new teen center in Fillmore will help stage its grand opening Saturday to display its activities and give thanks for the community’s support.
The One Step Center opened in September for teens 13-19 but was not fully operational until this week, when several student assistants joined the staff and the center spread out, now occupying two rooms in Trinity Episcopal Church’s parish hall.
“It’s someplace where kids can go and not worry about being judged,” said Stephanie Gonzalez, 17, secretary of One Step’s all-teen board of directors.
With events moving so rapidly, Department of Water and Power General Manager H. David Nahai told the council that he couldn’t give voters a financial analysis of the plan — including its effect on electricity rates — until this month, four weeks before the election.
The campaign for a new solar energy ballot measure in Los Angeles has raised more than $267,000, nearly two-thirds of it from groups affiliated with the union that represents Department of Water and Power employees, according to a report released Wednesday.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 18 provided $50,000 for the campaign supporting Measure B, a proposal on the March 3 ballot to add 400 megawatts of solar panels throughout Los Angeles by 2014.
Reporting from Groveland, Calif. — When the school board in this rural community voted to get rid of popular math teacher Ryan Dutton in September, the students at Tioga High School were so upset, the entire school boycotted class the next day. Then they decided to save his job.
What started as a civics class project soon became much more: a campaign to remove all five board members of Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School District.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday plans to discuss his goals for political reform that may include a push to change California’s primary election laws.
The governor and those close to him who helped spearhead the recent change in the state’s redistricting laws are expected to voice suport for open primaries, which would allow voters to cast primary ballots for any candidate, regardless of partisan affiliation. A ballot initiative could be before voters by 2010, perhaps even earlier, to change the state’s primary laws.
If California’s initiative process stays the course, with rich special interests crafting tricky propositions that don’t do what they claim, it soon will be time for the ultimate ballot measure. If it ever qualifies for the ballot, a measure reforming the initiative process might be called Proposition L, for logic, something that has been drained from the process.
A California Supreme Court vote yesterday to review an initiative banning gay marriage had observers dissecting the hidden meanings.
California voters on Tuesday approved Proposition 8, which adds to the state constitution the following sentence: “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”
Five California governors came together Thursday in rare bipartisan opposition to a ballot initiative they fear would harm public safety by easing punishment for drug offenders.
Proposition 5 would divert tens of thousands of drug offenders annually from prisons or jails into treatment programs. It expands on a similar initiative approved by voters in 2000.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was joined by predecessors Gray Davis, Pete Wilson, Jerry Brown, and George Deukmejian at Thursday’s event at a Los Angeles County’s criminal courts building in downtown.