Monthly Archive for Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Stories Posted in July 2008
Under Charter, Citizens Take 'initiative'
Category: Initiative and Referendum · State: Pennsylvania · Source: Lancaster Online
But the arguments for "initiative and referendum" changed his mind. Based on citizen input, Miller, a member of the Lancaster County Government Study Commission, and seven others on the 11-person GSC voted in May to amend the draft charter to not only allow people to force the board of county commissioners to consider an issue — but to take that issue to the electorate. "What I failed to see in the beginning was that the power to require consideration without the power for enactment would prove to be a paper tiger and diminish the real intent of initiative, namely government responsiveness to citizen desires," Miller said. Article VI, on initiative and referendum, includes one of the biggest philosophical changes to county government in the home-rule charter. Under the County Code, the state law that now controls the structure of county government, referendum is only allowed under limited conditions.
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