FLASHREPORT

What if I told you that there is an effect underway by Democrats inside of the State Capitol to make it more difficult and expensive to qualify ballot measures?  Would you be shocked?  Would it really surprise you that a legislature that has its own ability to place measures on the ballot (like the taxes that were rejected by voters last May) doesn't want the people to have that same power?

Senate Bill 34 actually makes it a crime to hire signature gatherers to circulate petitions and pay those gatherers for every signature that they obtain.   That is very poor public policy.  Understand that what petition gatherers do is create opportunities to sign petitions if they want to... Of course voters can elect not to sign a petition.   Make no bones about it -- there is only one reason why the Democrats have pushed this legislation out the Senate on a party-line vote, and into the Assembly where they will likely try to do the same -- to stifle citizen-qualified ballot measures.

Longtime FlashReport friend Paul Jacob, President of Citizens In Charge, and one of the signors on a letter (below) to the State Legislature, had this to say:  "Senate Bill 34 is bad public policy.  Not only does SB 34 aim to silence California voters by restricting the ballot initiative process, it criminalizes activists who want to express their First Amendment rights."

We completely with Jacob, and call for the legislature to reject this rather naked effort to make it more difficult to put petitions in front of California voters for the purposes of qualifying ballot measures. 

Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed similar legislation that Democrats put on his desk previously.  If they do put SB 34 on his desk, we hope that he will "terminate" it like he has done before.

The following letter signed by national and state grassroots organization makes all of the relevant point about why Senate Bill 34 should be rejected...

To the Members of the California Legislature:
 
California voters enjoy a crucial voice in their government through the ballot initiative process. A bill now pending in the Assembly would seek to silence that voice by raising barriers to citizens petitioning to put ballot measures to a vote. As organizations representing tens of thousands of Californians, we urge you to protect the voters' voice and vote NO on Senate Bill 34.

SB 34 bans paying people who circulate petitions for initiatives, referendums, and recalls on a per signature basis for those people they get to sign. This restriction raises the cost of hiring petitioners and decreases their incentive to reach as many voters as possible with the campaign's message.

In 2006, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a payment per signature ban saying, "The prohibitions on per-signature payments will make it more difficult for grass-roots organizations to get the necessary signatures in the time allotted. As I have said before making the process more difficult may be fine for those opposed to the initiative process or those who profit from it, but it is not for everyday Californians with an idea for reform."

If SB 34 becomes law, the State of California will be immediately liable for a costly lawsuit challenging its constitutionality; something taxpayers can hardly afford. The federal courts have generally struck down bans on per signature payments. The specific ban in SB 34 is one of the most severe ever considered.

While bans in Oregon, New York and North Dakota have been upheld, similar bans in Ohio, Washington, Idaho, Maine, and Mississippi have been struck down. In 2008, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Ohio's ban on payment per signature, saying that it "burden[ed] the core political speech of initiative proponents by making it more difficult to retain circulators to communicate their political message, thus limiting the size of the audience it can reach and making it less likely that they will gather the number of signatures needed to place an initiative on the ballot."

Furthermore, SB 34 also criminalizes politics by imposing heavy fines and prison sentences on citizens petitioning their government. Anyone who pays someone per signature can be fined up to $25,000. Anyone who is paid per signature can be fined $1,000. Both could get a year in already overcrowded jails. Does the legislature really want to make criminals out of citizens looking to utilize their First Amendment right to speak out on an issue?

Senate Bill 34 is bad public policy. We hope that you will protect the voices of California citizens by voting NO on SB 34.

Sincerely,
 
Paul Jacob, Citizens in Charge
Grover Norquist, Americans For Tax Reform
David Wolfe, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Lewis Uhler , National Tax Limitation Committee  
Jack Dean, Fullerton Association of Concerned Taxpayers
Tony Bushala, Friends of Fullerton's Future