Bill Text: MO HJR16 | 2011 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Proposes a constitutional amendment changing the number of voter signatures that are required to place an initiative petition or a referendum on a ballot
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-05-13 - Placed on Informal Calendar [HJR16 Detail]
Download: Missouri-2011-HJR16-Comm_Sub.html
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1066L.02C D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
JOINT RESOLUTION
Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri an amendment repealing sections 50 and 52(a) of article III of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting two new sections in lieu thereof relating to initiative and referendum petitions.
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring therein:
That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday in November, 2012, or at a special election to be called by the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or rejection, the following amendment to article III of the Constitution of the state of Missouri:
Section A. Sections 50 and 52(a), article III, Constitution of Missouri, are repealed and two new sections adopted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 50 and 52(a), to read as follows:
Section 50. Initiative petitions proposing amendments to the constitution shall be signed by [eight] five and one-fourth percent of the legal voters in each of [two-thirds of] the congressional districts in the state, and petitions proposing laws shall be signed by five percent of such voters. Every such petition shall be filed with the secretary of state not less than six months before the election and shall contain an enacting clause and the full text of the measure. Petitions for constitutional amendments shall not contain more than one amended and revised article of this constitution, or one new article which shall not contain more than one subject and matters properly connected therewith, and the enacting clause thereof shall be "Be it resolved by the people of the state of Missouri that the Constitution be amended:". Petitions for laws shall contain not more than one subject which shall be expressed clearly in the title, and the enacting clause thereof shall be "Be it enacted by the people of the state of Missouri:".
Section 52(a). A referendum may be ordered (except as to laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, and laws making appropriations for the current expenses of the state government, for the maintenance of state institutions and for the support of public schools) either by petitions signed by [five] three and one-fourth percent of the legal voters in each of [two-thirds of] the congressional districts in the state, or by the general assembly, as other bills are enacted. Referendum petitions shall be filed with the secretary of state not more than ninety days after the final adjournment of the session of the general assembly which passed the bill on which the referendum is demanded.
Section B. Pursuant to chapter 116, RSMo, and other applicable constitutional provisions and laws of this state allowing the General Assembly to adopt ballot language for the submission of a joint resolution to the voters of this state, the official ballot title of the amendment proposed in section A shall be as follows:
"Shall the Constitution of Missouri be amended to reflect the reduction in the number of congressional districts in the state by lowering the voter percentage requirements for the collection of signatures for initiative and referendum petitions, and specifying that these petitions be collected in each congressional district of the state?".
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