Citizen Blog
The first time I spoke with Janine Hansen was in 2009, while she was making one of her regular trips from her home in Elko to the Nevada State Capitol in Carson City””it’s a 5 hour drive one way if it doesn’t snow. Janine made that drive several times a week throughout the 2009 legislative session in her effort to convince lawmakers not to undermine Nevada’s initiative process by instituting a restrictive geographic distribution requirement for qualifying petitions. Now, two years later, her fight just may result in victory.
Our May 2011 Lilburne Award winner Thad Tecza just so happened to be one of the panelists at our event in Denver, CO last month. Citizens in Charge Foundation president Paul Jacob presented him with the award at the end of the event.
While legislatiors in Colorado, Utah, and California work to restrict their constituents’ access to the ballot initiative process, New York Senators voted Tuesday in favor of a constitutional amendment aimed at giving citizens more power by creating an initiative and referendum process in the state.
The Los Angeles Police Commission voted Tuesday to kill the city’s red light enforcement camera program, unanimously rejecting arguments that the cameras increase safety.
If you weren’t able to make it to Denver for our big event a couple weeks ago make sure you check out videos of the event on our YouTube channel. The keynote speakers and panelists were great. We just posted the full version of our panel discussion. Where else can you see John Fund and Joe Trippi at the same event…agreeing on something? Check it out.
Thirty-three years ago today Californians passed Proposition 13 through the citizen initiative process, and forever changed the tax system in the state.
Jon Fleischman of Flashreport has a column today about this influencial piece of citizen legislation:
We now know that “Pubulus” represents the collected works of the founding fathers James Madison, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton were the authors of the Federalist Papers, and that “Brutis,” “Centinel” and the “Federalist Farmer” represent the works of anti-federalists such as Patrick Henry. At the time of the debate over ratification of the US Constitution, the fundamental document of our nation’s government, the true identities of all these men weren’t known. Citizens were forced to [gasp] decide the issues based on the merit of the arguments made, not the perception of the people making the arguments.
Last week, Citizens in Charge Foundation co-hosted a transpartisan panel in Denver, CO to discuss the various attacks on Colorado’s initiative process.
After the panel was done we chatted briefly with Mr. Trippi on why he thought initiative & referendum rights are so important for citizens in holding their government accountable.
Current San Francisco law prohibits the Mayor and members of the Board of Supervisors from altering or repealing voter-approved laws, but city lawmakers may consider passing what amounts to a “Cut the Voters Out Act.”
Colorado’s initiative process has been under sustained attack from state legislators and special interests for several years. Misinformation, half-truths, and outright falsehoods have characterized the arguments of those aiming to restrict initiative rights, while the voices of those supporting the state’s initiative process often go unheard.
Just last week syndicated columnist George Will conjectured that “as much as 85 percent” of California’s budget is controlled by initiatives. Where he gets the 85 percent figure isn’t clear, but then Mr. Will is merely repeating what has become a fundamental piece of California political mythology: the idea that the state’s budget woes are the fault of voters and the initiative process. As updated research from Dr.
Claims of petition signature fraud are often used as the basis for passing laws that severely restrict citizen initiative rights. Citizens in Charge and Citizens in Charge Foundation have widely publicized the fact that those claims are usually proven to be false, and our report, “Is the F-Word Overused?” highlights that fact.
However, just because petition signature fraud is rare and often over-exaggerated that does not mean it never occurs. Case in point, it seems a case of fraud in Georgia is finally being investigated by state officials:
Last month, Citizens in Charge along with the Humane Society of the United States and numerous other groups endorsed an effort by the Voter Protection Alliance in Missouri to protect the will of the voters from meddling by the state legislature. The constitutional amendment was approved for circulation and the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch agrees, voters need some protection:
In 2009, Citizens in Charge Foundation gave the October Lilburne Award to Healthy Democracy Oregon, and organization working to improve the state’s citizen initiative process through citizen led review panels.
Yesterday, the Oregon House approved a bill that will create the very citizen review panels that Healthy Democracy Oregon worked for:
The Oregon House today approved a bill that would allow Oregonians to review ballot initiatives and share their findings and recommendations with other Oregon voters.
Don’t forget! Tonight from 5-7 PM MT Citizens in Charge Foundation will co-host an event at the University Club in Denver, Colorado to discuss the many attacks on Colorado’s citizen initiative process.
Guest speakers include John Fund of the Wall Street Journal and Democratic Party consultant Joe Trippi as well as a transpartisan panel of experts on citizen rights.
If you’re in Denver today make sure you stop by. If you have not RSVP’d please do so. See you there!
