Daily Archive
Stories Posted on April 30, 2008
Lawmakers Seek to Make State Constitution Amendments More Difficult
Category: Initiative and Referendum · State: Colorado · Source: 9 News
Colorado lawmakers are debating whether to ask voters this fall if it should be harder to change the state's constitution in the future. The Senate Concurrent Resolution has already passed the Senate with two-thirds of the chamber in support and is expected to pass out of a House committee Tuesday afternoon. The resolution was based on many recommendations made by a panel at the University of Denver formed to study Colorado's Constitution. It seeks to require more signatures needed on petitions gathered from all over Colorado to amend the constitution while lowering the number of signatures needed to simply change state law. "What we're trying to do here is basically prevent mutually assured destruction by the ballot box," said Rep. Andy Kerr (D-Lakewood), one of the co-sponsors of the measure in the House. "(Concurrent Resolution 3) will treat the Constitution with the respect it deserves." Colorado's 131-year-old Constitution has been amended more times in the last 25 years than the United States Constitution has been amended in its history. It is currently ten times longer than its federal counterpart as well.
Election Panel Approves Petition to Recall Kilpatrick
Category: Recall · State: Michigan · Source: The Detroit News
Wayne County officials approved language for a recall campaign against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, green-lighting the second effort to oust him since the $8.4 million whistle-blower scandal broke this year. The first never got started, after the language was rejected when Kilpatrick's lawyers argued the petitioner didn't live in the city. Angelo Brown, 45, said he hopes to begin gathering the 56,970 required signatures as early as this week. The security guard, who lives in southwest Detroit, said he's launching and financing the effort on his own. It's a daunting task: He has 180 days to gather signatures; once he starts, they're valid for 90 days. Working alone, that's more than 600 signatures a day to meet the minimum to force a recall election.