National
Paul Jacob discusses the importance of the initiative and referendum process for all citizens, and for all different types of policies and beliefs.
Paul is interviewed by CPAC 2009.
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The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics ruled Tuesday that a proposed ballot initiative defining marriage as between a man and a woman cannot go forward, reaffirming an earlier ruling that such a vote would be discriminatory.
Here’s an interview Citizens in Charge Foundation President Paul Jacob did earlier this year while he was out in Colorado. He was a guest on the Independent Thinking show hosted by Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute, a free maket think tank based in Colorado.
Today, in a Sacramento news conference, Citizens in Charge Foundation, the only national voter rights groups dedicated to protecting and expanding the ballot initiative process, presented California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with the November 2009 John Lilburne Award. Governor Schwarzenegger was honored for vetoing four bills passed by the California Legislature during the 2009 session that would have restricted the initiative process in the state.
Citizens in Charge Foundation President Paul Jacob will be in Sacramento, CA tomorrow morning to hold a press conference honoring Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with this month’s John Lilburne Award. Governor Schwarzenegger is receiving the award for recently vetoing four bills that would have restricted the initiative process in the state.
Here’s a link to a video we made earlier this year. With this year’s election season over and looking towards defending and expanding the initiative process in 2010 the video is a timely reminder. The ability of citizens to petition their government is a fundamentally important right.
At the recent 2009 State Policy Network Conference, Citizens in Charge Foundation president Paul Jacob gave a presentation on fighting back against political attacks and frivolous prosecution. His talk focused on his indictment in Oklahoma last year over signature gathering procedures. The main message however, was that when you are under attack politically, tell your story, respond quickly to further attacks and go on offense.
The results are in from the numerous ballot measures that were voted on yesterday. It looks like about half passed and half did not. Next year should be quite a bit bigger in terms of the number of citizen-initiatives on the ballot. You can check out the results here.
After today the 2009 ballot season will essentially be over. There relatively few citizen-led measures on the ballot around the country this year, mostly due to the fact that only 3 states allow them. 2010 will be a different story however, it will be a much busier election season.
On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, voters around the country will make decisions on transportation-related initiatives and on some lawmakers who will have a say on the future of transportation in their states. While the issues aren’t as glamorous as a national election, their significance to communities warrants attention from voters. OOIDA’s Land Line recently took a look at many of these issues.
There’s a good commentary from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association that came out a couple days ago regarding the initiative process and California. It highlights some of the recent attacks on the taxpayers and their ability to use the initiative process in the state.
The initiative process can be used in many different ways and for many different policies, but I don’t think it’s been used very often to create alien visitor policy.
In Denver, Colorado, a man by the name of Jeff Peckman is trying to get a measure on the local ballot to create a commision to teach citizens how to welcome any alien visitors that might show up.
Illinois is technically an initiative state, but the process is very difficult. Illinois citizens do not have the ability to pass their own statutes or repeal statutes passed by the state legislature. The initiative process in Illinois is only advisory. You can read more about the history of I&R in Illinois here.
Maine has 5 different citizen initiated measures on the ballot next Tuesday. Recent polls show a swing in the level of support for the two tax measures since the last poll earlier in October. You can check out the poll breakdown here.
Also, the group supporting the Taxpayer Bill of Rights measure is calling for an investigation into allegedly improper use of taxpayer money and legislative time.
“The Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court recently declared the state’s government “dysfunctional.”
But Judge Ronald George didn’t bother to tell this to his employers, the people of California. Instead, the judge delivered his speech all the way across the continent, in Massachusetts, at his induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.”
Read the rest of Paul Jacob’s most recent Common Sense column here.
