Montana

Montana

Three ballot measures will appear on the November ballot, while eight others failed to muster the necessary signatures, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch said Monday. The measures that qualified, if approved, would prohibit state and local governments from imposing new taxes on real estate transactions, end guaranteed hunting licenses for outfitters and cap interest rates that payday and title loan businesses can charge consumers.

Montana: Pro-life measure falls short

Fri, Jul 16 2010 — Source: KFBB 5

CI-102 will again fell short of the required 48,764 signatures needed to appear on the November ballot with only 36, 376 signatures gathered. The pro-life ballot issue would have made it legal for a woman to be criminally investigated for miscarriage and would have banned certain methods of birth control. CI-102 would have led to a complete ban on abortion with no exceptions.

Read the story from KFBB 5

Backers of a proposed constitutional initiative that blocks the government from ever imposing a certain type of real estate tax say they have enough signatures to get on the ballot. Constitutional Initiative 105 would prevent the adoption of a tax on the sale or inheritance of property. No such tax exists in Montana at the moment, but has been suggested at the Legislature in the past.

Read the story from the Billings Gazette

Friday is the final day for registered voters to sign initiatives and the day for ballot measure sponsors to turn in their petitions to county election officials. Then county election administrators have until July 16 to verify the signatures and turn them in, along with the totals, to Secretary of State Linda McCulloch. To qualify an initiative to amend a state law for the ballot, backers need the signatures of 5 percent of the state’s registered voters, or 24,377 signatures, including 5 percent of the voters in 34 of the 100 state House districts.

A group trying to repeal Montana’s medical marijuana law received the approved petition Friday evening and can now collect signatures to put the initiative on the November ballot.

Read the story from KXLF 4

A proposed ballot initiative that would divert alcohol tax money for prevention and treatment efforts as a way to reduce repeat drunk driving offenses is being scrapped amid state budget concerns. Backers of Initiative 163 announced Monday they will be withdrawing the petition from consideration on the November ballot. Current Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike McGrath, previously state attorney general, had been helping with the effort.

Read the story from CNBC

A group trying to repeal Montana’s medical marijuana law expects to have only about a week to collect the 24,000 signatures needed to get the initiative on the November ballot. Attorney General Steve Bullock’s office has written a summary of the initiative proposed by Safe Community, Safe Kids and has set a deadline of noon on Friday for interested parties to comment or accept the wording that would appear on the ballot.

The real estate industry has raised more than $600,000 so far to gather signatures for a ballot measure that would amend the Montana Constitution to forbid state and local governments from ever imposing taxes on real estate transfers or sales. The Coalition to Prevent Double Taxation has collected and spent more than any other group promoting or opposing Montana ballot measures this year, according to campaign finance reports filed this week with the state Commissioner of Political Practices Office.

Do over. That’s what some medical marijuana supporters and opponents want with the law that made the drug legal in Montana. Both sides are now pushing to get a new initiative on the November ballot. The new measure would repeal the very law voters approved that legalized the drug for medicinal purposes. The new initiative would ask voters to undo their 2004 decision legalizing medical marijuana and that’s leaving some strong opinions.

Read the story from KULR 8

A coalition of Montana consumer groups is backing a voter initiative to cap interest rates for payday and title loans at 36 percent. Announcing their plans at a press conference Tuesday at the Great Northern Hotel, representatives of senior, low-income, women’s and religious groups said that in these tough economic times, interest rates of 400 percent or more amounted to a “debt trap” for the most vulnerable.

Montana Supreme Court Justice and former Attorney General Mike McGrath has unveiled a ballot initiative that would earmark $5 million per year in state alcohol taxes to pay for addiction treatment, prevention, and drug/DUI courts, KFBB-TV reported Feb. 9. The Montana Alcohol Abuse and Drug-Free Plan was announced during McGrath’s recent appearance before the legislature’s Law & Justice Interim Committee.

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Under the headline, “Things a Chief Justice oughtn’t be doing,” Travis Kavulla over at Electric City Weblog writes: “Pitching a voter initiative qualifies in my book.”

Read the story from the Flathead Beacon

The state’s Supreme Court chief justice is advocating a new ballot measure that would use alcohol tax money for prevention and treatment efforts. Mike McGrath, who used to be the state’s attorney general, pitched the plan to a legislative committee Tuesday.

Read the story from the Great Falls Tribune

The struggle for access to public wildlife on private land in Montana may go to the ballot box in the form of a citizen’s initiative that would abolish outfitter-sponsored nonresident big game licenses. Citizen’s Initiative 161, sponsored by Montana Public Wildlife, was certified by the Montana Secretary of State’s Office and is out for signature gathering. If enough people sign the petition, it will be on the ballot in November.

The state’s property tax systems is broken, area residents told Montana legislators at a town hall meeting last week at Flathead Valley Community College. Nine state legislators, all Republican, were present at the session, which gave people a chance to air their concerns and suggest solutions. This was the second meeting organized by Rep. Scott Reichner of Bigfork held in response to concerns he received about the recent reappraisal cycle that more than doubled some residents’ property taxes, particularly for those with lakefront property.