Citizens in Charge

I just wanted to reflect on a few thoughts I had for next year, it being New Year’s Eve and all. 2010 looks to be an exciting year, and I too, am quite excited for what it will hold. I think that this coming year will be a great one for initiative & referendum rights. The nation is sick of both parties, the government and bureaucracy, and just want their voices to be heard.

Here’s an article I ran across in The Sacramento Bee about the initiative process in California. It’s an interesting read, and discusses the costs associated with taking advantage of your initiative and referendum rights. Check it out.

Becoming a member of the Citizens in Charge Foundation team would be a great way to start off 2010. This next year we will be expanding our message and our programs and we need the help of passionate citizens like yourself. 2010 will be a great year to work on protecting and expanding initiative and referendum rights. Please consider joining us for a great year. Join Today!

Citizens in Charge Foundation would like to wish you and yours Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.

Those who wish to take away citizen rights are going to get a lump of coal in their stockings this evening.

 

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.

As initiative proponents collect signatures for next year’s ballot, and the Citizens in Charge Foundation staff continues to dig out from last weekend’s snow storm, petition rights activists around the country are getting ready for the restrictions on the initiative and referendum process that will be proposed in upcoming state legislative sessions.

I wanted to remind everyone that if you’re looking for news and views on the initiative & referendum process check out Ballot Box News and Ballot Podium. These websites are your one-stop shop for everything that’s happening around the country in the world of I&R.

I came across an article in the Nashville Scene earlier today and found it to be an interesting take on the idea and practice of a non-binding referendum.

Frequent readers of this blog will know that the president of Citizens in Charge Foundation, Paul Jacob, was the leader of the movement for legislative term limits in the 1990s. What you may not be aware of, however, is the story of how Paul got into politics in the first place.

At Citizens in Charge Foundation we seek to keep the initiative & referendum process open and accessible for those citizens who have it, and expand the process to those citizens who do not. We believe that the initiative & referendum process is a right that every citizen should have, regardless of what issue or policy they intend to use it for.

The saga in Washington state over whether or not to make public the names and personal information of referendum petition signers continues. The U.S. Supreme Court is looking into the matter, but some in Washington don’t want to wait. They want this information public, and they want it now.

State Rep. Reuven Carlyle filed a bill for the next session that would make it a specific law that the names, home addresses, and signatures of those citizens who sign a petition are made public. What kind of precedent would this set?