 |
"There are those occasions under our form of government when the interests of the represented and the interests of the representatives are at odds. I & R are the means by which the represented assure that their interests ultimately prevail." John Talley of Longview, Texas |
A
JOINT RESOLUTION
proposing a constitutional amendment to reserve to the people the powers of
initiative and popular referendum,
BE
IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
SECTION 1. Article III, Texas Constitution, is amended by amending Section 1
and adding Sections 1A to read as follows:
Subject to Sections 1A of this article, the Legislative power of this State
shall be vested in a Senate and House of Representatives, which together shall
be styled "The Legislature of the State of
(a)
The people reserve to themselves the power to propose constitutional and
statutory measures by petition for submission to the electorate and to have
those measures enacted as provided by this section. These powers are
known as the initiative and referendum. Just as the Legislature can not
make laws abrogating any unalienable individual right enumerated in the
(b)
The first power reserved by the people is the initiative.
A petition proposing
constitutional amendment must be signed by a number of registered voters equal
to at least six percent of the total number of votes received by all
candidates for governor in the most recent full term gubernatorial general
election. A petition proposing a
statute must be signed by registered voters equal to four percent of such
votes. The
six and four percent thresholds must be obtained statewide and in each of 15
of the State Senate districts.
(1) A proposed constitutional or statutory measure and a good faith filing fee of $100 must be submitted to the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall advise the Proponent(s) within 30 days as to proper form and language, and render an advisory opinion as to the constitutionality of the measure(s).
(2) Not later than the 15th day after
the date of receipt of a proposed measure from the Attorney General, the Secretary of State shall issue to the Proponent(s) an
approved copy of an initiative petition proposing the measure. The
Secretary of State shall prescribe standards of form and design for a petition
that are easy for petitioners to use. Each section of a petition must
include the full text of the proposed measure. Rules for circulation, if
any, shall be for the purpose of facilitating petition signature gathering.
(3) To be certified as valid, the required number of signatures must be filed
not later than the 730th day after the date the approved copies are issued by
the Secretary of State. The Secretary shall, within 60 days, review the
petition to determine whether it has sufficient valid signatures. The
Secretary may use statistical sampling as the basis for sufficiency of
signature count. If sufficient signatures have been collected, the
Secretary of State shall notify immediately by telephone and in writing the
Proponent(s) of the determination. On determining that the petition
complies with this section, the Secretary of State shall certify it as valid.
Costs for signature verification shall be a cost of state government.
(4) After an initiative measure is certified, the Secretary of State shall publish, within ten (10) days, ballot proposition title. The proposition title on the ballot must be the same as on the petitions circulated, descriptive but not argumentative or prejudicial, and must have the written approval of the Proponent(s). Unless otherwise provided for herein, the provisions of this Constitution that apply to publication of constitutional amendments proposed under Section 1, Article XVII, of this Constitution apply to the publication of measures proposed under this section.
(5) The Secretary of State shall submit each certified measure to the voters of the state for approval or disapproval at the next statewide general election held in November of even numbered years at least 150 days following certification.
(6) The health of the republic
depends upon an informed and involved electorate. For all elections
where propositions are on the ballot, the Secretary of State must prepare and mail
to every registered voter a voter pamphlet 30 days prior to election.
The pamphlet shall contain the complete wording of each initiative on the
ballot, a summary of each initiative, and the arguments for and against and
rebuttals thereto (each limited to 1,000 words) drafted by the opposing sides.
(7)
If a proposal or enacted initiative is subject to a legal challenge, the
Proponent(s) of the measure shall have standing to assist the Attorney General
to defend the measure. The Proponent(s) shall be reimbursed for
reasonable legal fees in defending the measure.
(8) If there are certified petition
measures on the ballot with competing provisions and the voters approve more
than one measure, each approved measure becomes law limited only by the extent
to which its provisions do not conflict with provisions in a measure receiving
more affirmative votes.
(9) After a measure is certified for
the ballot, full and prompt disclosure of all spending for and against the
measure is to be made to the Texas Ethics Commission.
(10) This section shall be self
executing, and all its provisions shall be treated as mandatory, but laws may
be enacted to facilitate its operation as long as those laws are first
approved by a majority vote of the people. No legislation shall be
enacted to restrict, hamper or impair the exercise of the rights herein
reserved to the people.
(c)
The second power reserved by the people is the popular referendum, permitting
citizens to repeal legislation passed by the legislature.
Four percent of the citizens
who cast a vote for Governor in the last statewide election may, by petition,
place on the ballot any general act, bill or measures passed by the General
Assembly. Such petition shall be
filed with the Secretary of State not later than 180 days after the final
adjournment of the session at which such act was passed.
Any act, bill or measure referred to the people by popular referendum
petition shall not be effective until the popular referendum is voted on by
the people.
(d)
Any measure approved by a vote of the people may be amended or repealed only
by a vote of the people. The veto
power of the Governor shall not extend to initiatives or popular referenda
voted on by the people.
(e)
All initiatives and popular referenda shall be submitted only at the regular
statewide elections in November of years ending in an even number.
(f):
Any initiative or popular referenda submitted to the people as herein
provided shall take effect and become law when approved by a majority of the
votes cast upon such measure, and not otherwise, and shall not be required to
receive a majority of the electors voting at such elections.
Such measures shall be operative on and after the 30th day after the
election at which it was approved, unless otherwise specified in the act.
(g):
Nothing in these sections shall be construed to deprive any member of the
Legislature of the right to carry out his or her constitutional duties.
(h) No
limitation shall be placed upon the number of Constitutional Amendments, laws
or other measures which may be proposed and submitted to the people by either
initiative or popular referendum as provided in this act.
(i)
Only the signatures of registered voters shall be counted upon petitions.
All signatures upon petitions shall be assumed valid.
The sufficiency of all statewide petitions shall be decided in the
first instance by the Secretary of State, subject to review by the Supreme
Court of the State, which shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over
all such causes. If the
sufficiency of any petition is challenged, such cause shall be a preference
cause and shall be tried at once, but the failure of the courts to decide
prior to the election as to the sufficiency of any such petition shall not
prevent the question from being placed upon the ballot at the election named
in such petition, nor militate against the validity of such measure, if it
shall have been approved by a vote of the people.
(k) If
the Secretary of State shall decide any petition to be insufficient, he shall
without delay notify the Proponent(s) of such petition, and permit at least sixty
days from the date of such notification for the Proponent(s) to submit additional
signatures so as to make the petition sufficient.
(l)
No law shall be passed to prohibit any person or persons from giving or
receiving compensation for circulating petitions, nor to prohibit the
circulation of petitions, nor in any manner interfering with the freedom of
the people in procuring signatures; but laws may be enacted prohibiting and
penalizing perjury, forgery and all other felonies or other fraudulent
practices in the securing of signatures or filing petitions.
(m)
The style of all laws initiated by and submitted under the provisions of this
act shall be, “Be It Enacted by the People of the State of
(n)
This act shall be self executing, and all its provisions shall be treated as
mandatory, but laws may be enacted to facilitate its operation as long as
those laws are first approved by a majority vote of the people.
No legislation shall be enacted to restrict, hamper or impair the
exercise of the rights herein reserved to the people.
Section 1A. In addition to the mode of amendment provided by Section 1 of this article, the Constitution may be amended by the initiative procedure authorized by Section 1, Article III, of this Constitution.
SECTION 3. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be submitted to the voters at an election to be held