Nebraska
Angered by a recent influx of Hispanic workers attracted by jobs at local meatpacking plants, voters in the eastern Nebraska city of Fremont will decide Monday whether to ban hiring or renting property to illegal immigrants. The vote will be the culmination of a two-year fight that saw proponents collect enough signatures to put the question to a public vote. If the ordinance is approved, the community of 25,000 people could face a long and costly court battle. Either way, the emotions stirred up won’t settle quickly.
Last year, Citizens in Charge filed suit in Nebraska to challenge the state law requiring petition signature gatherers be residents of the state. The law places an unconstitutional burden on citizens of the state seeking to put a measure on the ballot.
Over the weekend, the Libertarian Party of Nebraska joined in the effort to block the unconstitutional portion of the law:
The Libertarian Party of Nebraska is asking a federal judge to block part of the state’s petition law. The party filed a motion Thursday for an injunction to allow out-of-state residents to collect petition signatures. The party also asked to intervene in a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s petition laws. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in December, claims that parts of Nebraska law place an unconstitutional burden on citizens.
Of the 45 states whose legislatures hold sessions in 2010, 27 of them have adjourned for the year, and 5 more will wrap up before the end of the month. Of the more than 80 bills dealing with the initiative and referendum process in various states, 51 of them would have reduced citizens’ initiative rights. Thanks to the work of activists in our coalitions, only 3 bills reducing citizen’s rights have passed and become law.
Over at Townhall.com Foundation president Paul Jacob talks about efforts to secure Nebraskans’ petition rights in “The Spike That Broke the People’s Back.” As Chairman of the Western Nebraska Taxpayers Association - in addition to being Citizens in Charge Foundation’s Nebraska Citizen State Coordinator - I just want to take a moment to say how glad I am that organizations like Citizens in Charge Foundation and Citizen
Nebraska’s Appeals Court has ruled that an initiative that would make it illegal to lease or rent to an illegal alien and require anyone living in the city to obtain an occupancy permit from the police department does not violate the state’s single-subject rule. The court also held that it cannot rule on the constitutionality of the requirements of the measure until and unless the voters approve it.
This vote from Nebraska shows just how little importance is often placed on citizen initiative rights in some state legislatures. A proposal in the Nebraska Senate to make it easier for citizens to put initiatives on the ballot was voted down on Thursday. Most of the senators didn’t even show up for the vote, and the ones who did decided that they apparently don’t really want the average citizen to have any more power.
Nebraska lawmakers deep-sixed a proposal Thursday that would have made it easier to get initiative petitions on the ballot. Legislative Resolution 300CA garnered only seven votes in favor and 12 in opposition. A majority of the 49 senators didn’t vote at all - 25 abstained and five were absent. State Sen. John Nelson of Omaha, who introduced the measure, said he was not surprised at the outcome but thought the vote would be closer.
By unanimous vote, the city council approved the wording of a referendum/initiative petition to appear on the May primary ballot at a special meeting Thursday afternoon. “We would like to make it very clear that a no vote keeps the ordinance the same,” said councilman Larry Britton.
The smoldering question on the May primary ballot in Blair, Neb., will be: to burn or not to burn. For 16 years, the Washington County city has allowed its 8,000 residents to burn yard waste during two-week periods in April and November. Now the City Council has approved a ballot measure to eliminate the burn periods. Voters will have their say May 11. All open burns ”” with the exception of tree limbs, vegetation and nontreated wood ”” were banned by state law in 1980. Under that law, however, local governments may authorize temporary burns.
Nebraska resident Kent Bernbeck has filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s ban on paying campaign workers who circulate petitions by the signature and requirement that petition circulators be over the age of 18.
United States District Court Judge Robert Holmes Bell has made Michigan the ninth state to see a requirement that campaign workers who circulate petitions be residents of the state struck down. In 2008 federal appeals courts struck down residency requirements in Ohio, Arizona and Oklahoma. Residency requirements of some kind have previously been ruled unconstitutional in California, Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, and New York.
Powerful lobbyists such as the state teachers union and the Nebraska League of Municipalities are behind changes in Nebraska’s petition laws, leading to the restriction of residents’ rights of political free speech, says Western Nebraska Taxpayer Association chairman Mike Groene. That’s why Groene has joined up with an independent candidate from Kearney and a citizen’s rights group dedicated to protecting the right to petition.
Two petition drive veterans and a would-be political candidate are challenging Nebraska’s petition laws in court. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, the three claim that the laws will unconstitutionally burden citizens looking to run for office or put initiatives on the ballot. The American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project and ACLU Nebraska filed the suit on the trio’s behalf.
Several states –including Alaska, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon and Wyoming – ban or restrict paying people who collect signatures on a ballot initiative, referendum or recall petition based on the number of signatures they collect. Payment-per-signature allows citizens greater certainty in judging the cost of a petition effort. Moreover, in states that have passed such bans, the cost of successfully completing a petition drive has risen considerably, sometimes more than doubling.