Texas
The City of Nacogdoches and the Coalition for Public Referendum (CPR) plan to work together on potential charter amendments that would bring initiative and referendum to the city. The city commission is anticipated to form a Charter Study Committee to study the proposed amendments. The Coalition for Public Referendum is circulating petitions to being the matter to voters this November.
Today the Texas Senate had a hearing on Bill 690, which significantly increases the number of signatures needed to get an initiative on the local ballot and creates an unconstitutional hurdle to the process.
Critics of the legislations, rumored to have been requested by the Austin Chamber of Commerce, are worried that the new hurdles will restrict citizens from placing an item on the ballot by making it too hard and expensive for an average citizen. Local activists are worried that they, the “little guy” will become a non-entity if this legislation passes.
Article 17 – Mode of Amending the Constitution of This State
Section 1 - Proposed Amendments; Publication; Submission to Voters;
Adoption
(a) The Legislature, at any regular session, or at any special session when
the matter is included within the purposes for which the session is
convened, may propose amendments revising the Constitution, to be
voted upon by the qualified voters for statewide offices and propositions,
as defined in the Constitution and statutes of this State. The date of the
You have no statewide Initiative & Referendum rights, but 263 cities have Initiative rights.
Poll:
See the results of a poll on support for statewide initiative & referendum here.
Grade: D
Click here to view Texas’ individual report in Of the People, By the People, For the People: A 2010 Report Card on Statewide Voter Initiative Rights.
The founders of the Texas initiative and referendum movement were
two ministers: Rev. A. B. Francisco of Milano and Rev. B. F. Foster of
Galveston. Also important in Texas I&R leadership before 1900 was Judge
Thomas B. King of Stephenville, county judge of Erath County.
An attorney for Dallas Right to Vote, an organization backed by New York City-based labor union Unite Here, says the group will on Thursday submit about 30,000 petition signatures to Dallas City Hall in hopes of triggering a public referendum on whether to require city subsidies of $1 million or more to face a public vote.
Five hundred registered Dallas voters would have to sign a petition to trigger a citywide vote on such public subsidies, according to the text of Dallas Right to Vote’s proposal.
If a group called Coalition for Public Referendum is successful, Nacogdoches voters could soon have a greater voice in the legislative decisions of the city. The group is collecting signatures to place an item on the ballot in May’s city election that would amend the city charter to provide for initiative, referendum and recall measures.
On the Nov. 4 ballot, Austin residents will not only face a decision between McCain and Obama, but also whether to prevent the city from subsidizing retail stores.
If approved, a new citizen-led initiative called Stop Domain Subsidies will halt any tax rebates or subsidies provided by the city to retail stores. City officials designed the subsidies to generate more tax revenue by attracting more retail stores. In its last meeting, the city council approved the initiative’s wording for the Nov. 4 ballot.
Cost-conscious voters rejected school vouchers for Utah students, state-sponsored stem cell research in New Jersey and higher cigarette taxes in Oregon to fund health care for uninsured children.
Voters should approve state propositions 1-16 on the Nov. 6 ballot
Stephanie Walton won’t give up.
She and some of her West Allen neighbors don’t want townhouses built behind their homes, and they’ve launched a second petition drive to try to fight them.