A PROPOSITION

SUBSTITUTE

No. 4

Introduced by the Committee on Legislative Department, Distribution of Powers and Apportionment.

A Proposition Relative to Direct Legislation.

IT IS HEREBY PROPOSED:

Section 1. The legislative authority of the State shall be vested in a Legislature, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives, but the people reserve the power to propose laws and amendments to the Constitution and to enact or reject the same at the polls, independently of the Legislature; and they also reserve for use at their own option the power to approve or reject at the polls any Act, or item, section or part of any Act, of the Legislature.

The first of these reserved powers is the Initiative. Under this power.........per centum of the qualified electors shall have the right to propose any measure, and........per centum shall have the right to propose any amendment to the Constitution.

The second of these reserved powers is the Referendum. Under this power the Legislature or..........per centum of the qualified electors may order the submission to the people at the polls of any measure, item, section or part of any measure, enacted by the Legislature, except laws immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health or safety, or departments of the State Government and State institutions: but to allow opportunity for Referendum Petitions. no Act passed by the Legislature shall be operative for ninety days after the close of the session of the Legislature enacting such measure, excepting such as require earlier operation to preserve the public peace, health or safety, or appropriations for the support and maintenance of the Departments of State and State institutions: provided, that no such emergency measure shall be considered passed by the Legislature unless is shall state in a separate section why it is necessary that it shall become immediately operative, and shall be approved by the affirmative votes of two-thirds of the members elected to each House of the Legislature, taken by roll call of ayes and nays, and also approved by the Governor, and should such measure be vetoed by the Governor it shall not become a law unless it shall be approved by the votes of three-fourths of the members elected to each House of the Legislature, taken by roll call of ayes and nays.

All petitions submitted under the power of the Initiative shall be known as Initiative Petitions, and shall be filed with the Secretary of State not less than four months preceding the date of the election at which the measures so proposed are to be voted upon. All petitions submitted under the power of the Referendum shall be known as Referendum petitions, and shall be filed with the Secretary of State not more than ninety days after the final adjournment of the session of the Legislature which shall have passed the measure on which the referendum is ordered. The filing of a Referendum Petition against any item, section, or part of any measure shall not prevent the remainder of such measure from becoming law.

Any measure or amendment to the Constitution proposed under the Initiative and any measure to which the Referendum shall apply shall be referred to a vote of the qualified electors, and shall become law when approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon and the proclamation of the Governor shall issue, and not otherwise.

The veto power of the Governor shall not extend to Initiative or Referendum measures approved by a majority of the qualified electors.

The whole number of votes cast for all candidates for Governor at the general election last preceding the filing of any Initiative or Referendum Petition shall be the basis on which the number of qualified electors required to sign such petition shall be computed.

The Initiative and Referendum powers reserved to the people by this section are hereby further reserved to the qualified electors of every city, town and county as to all local, special and municipal legislation in or for their respective cities, towns and counties. The manner of exercising such powers shall be prescribed by general laws, except that cities, towns and counties may provide for the manner of exercising the Initiative and Referendum powers as to their local, special and municipal legislation. Not more than…….per centum of the qualified electors may be required to order the Referendum, nor more than………..per centum to propose any measure by the Initiative in any city, town or county.

Every Initiative and Referendum Petition shall be addressed to the Secretary of State in the case of petitions for or on State measures, or to the City Clerk of the Board of Supervisors or corresponding officer in the case of petitions for or on city, town or county measures; and shall contain the declaration of each petitioner, for himself, that he is a qualified elector of the State (and in the case of petitions for or on city, town or county measures, of the city, town or county affected.) his postoffice address, the street and number, if any, of his residence, and the date on which he signed such petition. Each sheet containing petitioners’ signatures shall be attached to a full and correct copy of the title and text of the measure so ordered to be initiated or referred to the people, and every sheet of every such petition containing signatures shall be verified by the affidavit of the person who circulated said sheet or petition, setting forth that each of the names on said sheet was signed in the presence of the affiant and that in the belief of the affiant each signer was a legal voter of the State and of the city, town or county affected by the proposed law so initiated or ordered to be referred to the people.

When any Initiative or Referendum Petition or any measure referred to the people by the Legislature shall be filed, in accordance with this section, with the Secretary of State, he shall cause to be printed on the official ballot at the next regular general election the title and number of said measure, together with the words “Yes” and “No” in such manner that the electors may express at the polls their approval or disapproval of the measure.

The text of all measures to be submitted shall be published as Constitutional amendments are published and in submitting the same the Secretary of State and all other officers shall be guided by the general law until legislation shall be especially provided therefor.

If two or more conflicting measures or amendments to the Constitution shall be approved by the people at the same election, the measure or amendment receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail in all particulars as to which there is conflict.

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, in the presence of the Governor and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to canvass the votes for and against each such measure within thirty days after the election, and upon the completion of the canvass the Governor shall forthwith issue a proclamation, giving the whole number of votes cast for and against each measure, and declaring such measures as are approved by a majority of those voting thereon to be law.

This section shall not be construed to deprive the Legislature of the right to enact any measure.

The Legislature shall provide a penalty for any person or officer who shall wilfully violate any of the provisions of this section.

This section of the Constitution shall be, in all respects, self executing.

• Substitute Proposition Number 4 (introduced on 1910-10-29 14:00:00 - CREATE_FROM - e935940) [This document] [view current proposal at this moment]
  • Motion to Print Substitute Proposition Number 4 (introduced on 1910-10-29 14:00:00 - PROCEDURE - e935945) [view current proposal at this moment]
    • None (introduced on 1910-10-29 14:00:00 - ADOPT_PROPOSAL - e935990) [view current proposal at this moment]
  • None (introduced on 1910-10-29 14:00:00 - DEBATE_PROPOSAL - e935984) [view current proposal at this moment]
  • None (introduced on 1910-10-29 14:00:00 - DEBATE_PROPOSAL - e935988) [view current proposal at this moment]