The state Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to curb the citizen-initiative process, following another controversial initiative measure that passed last month. House Bill 2244 imposes a “strict compliance” legal standard on measures that citizen groups want to bring to the ballot. What that ultimately could mean would be up to the courts. But in a lengthy debate, senators sketched scenarios in which it could head off potential problems, or could go as far as disqualifying a voter’s signature if he used a shortened version of his name instead of how it appears on his voter registration. The bill is part of an effort this year by Republican lawmakers, backed by the chambers of commerce, including the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, to put further limits on the process by which citizens can make law.
It comes after Gov. Doug Ducey last month signed a bill that bans the practice of paying petition circulators by the signature, a move that most believe will raise the cost of launching a citizen initiative. Another measure, Senate Bill 1263, to put even more restrictions on the initiative process, is awaiting a vote of the full House.
The three measures come in the wake of voter approval last fall of Proposition 206, which raised the state minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020.
Full Article: Arizona Senate advances another initiative-limiting bill.