Newswire
Utah currently has no campaign contribution limits for those running for elected office on the state level, but two efforts are underway to change this. One is an ethics initiative that will need 95,000 signatures statewide to get on the ballot this November. The other is a non-binding recommendation that was approved last week by the Governor’s Commission on Strengthening Utah’s Democracy in a split vote. Meanwhile, a handful of state lawmakers have been vocally criticizing both the ethics initiative and a separate redistricting initiative. KCPW’s Jeff Robinson discussed thes
With the Schwarzenegger administration preparing to close up to 100 state parks, California’s top environmental groups are quietly putting together a ballot campaign they hope will turn the bad news into a renaissance for the state’s long-struggling park system.
Secretary of State Sam Reed on Monday formally appealed a federal judge’s ruling that blocks the release of names of people who signed Referendum 71. In its filing (Emergency_Motion_(09-14-09).pdf”>PDF) to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the state argues that Judge Benjamin Settle’s ruling Thursday that people who sign referendums or initiatives have the First Amendment right to engage in anonymous political speech is fundamentally flawed. R-71, which will be on the November ballot, seeks to overturn the state’s new “everything but marriage” same-sex domestic partner law.
A local business woman and her son started a petition drive Monday to force the city to put security cameras in public areas. Karen Taylor is the force behind the petition, and the drive follows an attack on her son in a downtown parking garage last June.
Supporters of a plan to move the Del Puerto Health Center to a larger building at the Keystone Pacific Business Park filed a notice Monday to put the issue on the ballot. The City of Patterson Healthcare Expansion Act would amend the city’s zoning ordinance and a development agreement to allow the 11,000-square-foot health center at the business park in west Patterson. Spearheading the initiative is a group called Patterson Citizens for Expanded 21st Century Healthcare.
A nationwide anti-abortion group launched an effort in Florida today to outlaw all abortions and certain types of birth control, including oral contraceptives and the morning-after pill. The religion-infused movement, called “Personhood Florida,” would define conception in Florida’s constitution at the “biological beginnings,” supporters said — when the sperm meets the egg. The group, Virginia-based American Life League, filed its amendment today but the exact ballot language is still going through the approval process, said Secretary of State Spokeswoman Jennifer Krell-Davis.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced that the proponents of a new initiative to legalize marijuana may begin collecting petition signatures for their measure. The proponents for this measure, Joe Rogoway, Omar Figueroa and James J. Clark, must collect signatures of 433,971 registered voters - or 5% of the total votes cast for governor in the 2006 gubernatorial election - in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponents have 150 days to circulate petitions for this measure, meaning the signatures must be collected by February 5, 2010.
Gov. Bill Ritter said last Thursday that he is working with groups outside the Capitol to craft a 2011 ballot initiative that would eliminate aspects of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Speaking to members of the Colorado Alliance for Retired Americans ”” an arm of the AFL-CIO union ”” Ritter explained how Colorado’s constitution makes it difficult for lawmakers to prevent severe budget cuts to departments such as human services and public safety.
With an Oct. 7 deadline approaching, Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Brad White said Friday about 35,000 signatures have been verified on a petition for a 2010 ballot initiative to require voters to show identification.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied a request on Thursday by the AES power plant in Redondo Beach to reconsider a ruling that slightly modified the language in the city’s upcoming ballot measure. Judge David Yaffe refused to further alter the measure or reconsider his decision to rule against the plant in its argument that Measure UU would impose “double taxation” on residents. The measure will ask residents to change the city code to impose a tax on natural gas usage at AES, which is currently exempt as a utility.