Bill Text: MS SC527 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Constitution of 1890; amend to revise ballot initiative measure process.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2024-03-14 - Died On Calendar [SC527 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2024-SC527-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency
By: Senator(s) Parker
Senate Concurrent Resolution 527
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO SECTIONS 33, 56, 61 AND 72, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO PROVIDE THAT THE PEOPLE RESERVE TO THEMSELVES THE RIGHT TO EXERCISE THE LEGISLATIVE POWER OF THE STATE TO PROPOSE NEW LAWS AND TO AMEND OR REPEAL EXISTING LAWS BY INITIATIVE MEASURE, AND TO APPROVE OR REJECT THE SAME IN AN ELECTION INDEPENDENT OF THE LEGISLATURE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendments to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 are proposed to the qualified electors of the state:
I.
Amend Section 33, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:
Section 33. (1) The legislative power of this state shall be vested in a Legislature which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives, but the people reserve to themselves the right to exercise the statutory legislative power of the state to propose new laws and to amend or repeal existing laws by initiative measure, and to approve or reject the same in an election independent of the Legislature, in the manner prescribed in and subject to the provisions of this section.
(2) The initiative measure process shall not be used:
(a) To propose any new law or amend or repeal any existing law relating to the Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System;
(b) To modify the initiative measure process;
(c) To propose any new law or amend or repeal any existing law on any subject or matter that any section of this constitution prohibits the Legislature from enacting; or
(d) To propose any new law or amend or repeal any existing law relating to abortion.
(3) Initiative measures shall contain only one (1) subject.
(4) An initiative measure may be proposed by a petition signed over a twelve-month period by qualified electors equal in number to at least ten percent (10%) of the total qualified electors of the state as of the date of the last presidential election. The signatures of the qualified electors from any congressional district shall not exceed the total number of signatures required to qualify an initiative measure for placement on the ballot divided by the number of congressional districts in existence on the day that the petition is filed. If an initiative measure petition contains signatures from a single congressional district that exceed the total number of required signatures, the excess signatures from that congressional district shall not be considered by the Secretary of State in determining whether the initiative measure qualifies for placement on the ballot.
(5) The sponsor of an initiative measure shall identify in the text of the initiative measure the amount and source of revenue required to implement the initiative measure. The sponsor also shall provide in the text of the initiative measure the specific funding source or mechanism to pay the cost of the provisions of the initiative measure. The funding source or mechanism to pay the cost of the provisions of the initiative measure shall not be the Capital Expense Fund or the Working Cash Stabilization Fund i.e. Rainy Day Fund. If an initiative measure requires (a) a reduction in any source of government revenue that would cause the amount of state funds available for expenditure by the Legislature to be less than the amount of state funds appropriated for the most recent fiscal year, or (b) requires a reallocation of funding from currently funded programs, the sponsor shall identify in the text of the initiative measure the program or programs whose funding must be reduced or eliminated to implement the initiative measure.
(6) The Executive Director of the Legislative Budget Office shall prepare a fiscal analysis of each initiative measure, and a summary of each fiscal analysis shall appear on the ballot.
(7) The sufficiency of petitions, including the requirements contained herein pertaining to the subject, number of signatures, fiscal components, and circulation for signature collection, 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 cases.
(8) The Secretary of State shall file with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate the complete text of the certified initiative measure on the first day of the regular session. An initiative measure may be adopted by a majority vote of each house of the Legislature. If the initiative measure is adopted or if no action is taken within four (4) months of the date that the initiative measure is filed with the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall place the initiative measure on the ballot for the next statewide general election.
(9) The initiative measure shall be submitted to the electors. An initiative measure must receive not less than sixty percent (60%) of the total votes cast at the election at which the initiative measure was submitted to be approved. If conflicting initiative measures are approved at the same election, the initiative measure receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall prevail.
(10) No more than two (2) initiative measure proposals shall be submitted to the voters on a single ballot, and the first two (2) initiative measure proposals submitted to the Secretary of State with sufficient petitions shall be the proposals which are submitted to the voters.
(11) An initiative measure approved by the electors shall take effect thirty (30) days from the official declaration of the vote by the Secretary of State, unless the initiative measure provides otherwise.
(12) An initiative measure approved by the people shall not be amended by the Legislature to make a substantive change to the text in the initiative measure, or repealed by the Legislature, for a period of two (2) years after the initiative measure takes effect. However, the Legislature may amend or repeal an initiative measure less than two (2) years after the initiative measure takes effect if the Legislature determines the existence of an emergency affecting the public peace, health, safety or financial solvency of the state that necessitates the amendment or repeal of the initiative measure. Such emergency must be stated in the legislation, and such amendment or repeal shall require a vote of three-fifths (3/5) of each house present and voting.
(13) The Legislature shall provide by law the manner in which initiative measure petitions shall be circulated, presented and certified, which shall include, but not be limited to, petition circulators being residents of this state. To prevent signature fraud and to maintain the integrity of the initiative measure process the state has a compelling interest in ensuring that no person shall circulate an initiative measure petition or obtain signatures on an initiative measure petition unless the person is a resident of this state at the time of circulation. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "resident" means a person who is domiciled in Mississippi as evidenced by an intent to maintain a principal dwelling place in Mississippi indefinitely and to return to Mississippi if temporarily absent, coupled with an act or acts consistent with that intent. Every person who circulates an initiative measure petition shall print and sign his or her name on each page of an initiative measure petition, or on a separate page attached to each page, certifying that he or she was a resident of this state at the time of circulating the petition. The Secretary of State shall refuse to accept for filing any page of an initiative measure petition upon which the signatures appearing thereon were obtained by a person who was not a resident of this state at the time of circulating the petition, and an initiative measure shall not be placed on the ballot if the Secretary of State determines that without such signatures the petition clearly bears an insufficient number of signatures. The provisions of this subsection (13) shall be applicable to all initiative measures that have not been placed on the ballot at the time this proposed amendment is ratified by the electorate.
(14) The Legislature is authorized to enact laws to accomplish and implement the text of the approved initiative measure.
(15) The Legislature may enact laws to carry out the provisions of this section, but such laws shall in no way restrict or impair the provisions of this section or the exercise of the rights reserved to the people in this section.
II.
Amend Section 56, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:
Section 56. (1) The style of the laws of the state that are enacted by the Legislature shall be: "Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Mississippi."
(2) The style of all initiative measures shall be: "Be it enacted by the people of the State of Mississippi."
III.
Amend Section 61, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:
Section 61. No law enacted by the Legislature or by initiative measure of the people shall be revived or amended by reference to its title only, but the section or sections, as amended or revived, shall be inserted at length.
IV.
Amend Section 72, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:
Section 72. Every Bill which shall pass both Houses shall be presented to the Governor of the state. If he or she approves, he or she shall sign it; but if he or she does not approve, he or she shall return it, with his or her objections, to the House in which it originated, which shall enter the objections at large upon its Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds (2/3) of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, with the objections, to the other House, by which, likewise, it shall be reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds (2/3) of that House, it shall become a law; but in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the Governor within five (5) days (Sundays excepted) after it has been presented to him or her, it shall become a law in like manner as if he or she had signed it, unless the Legislature, by adjournment, prevented its return, in which case such Bill shall be a law unless the Governor shall veto it within fifteen (15) days (Sundays excepted) after it is presented to him or her, and such Bill shall be returned to the Legislature, with his or her objections, within three (3) days after the beginning of the next session of the Legislature. The provisions of this section are not applicable to initiative measures approved by the people.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That these proposed amendments shall be submitted by the Secretary of State to the qualified electors at an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2023, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law, with the proposed amendments in this resolution being voted on as one (1) amendment.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed constitutional amendment provides that the people reserve to themselves the right to exercise the legislative power of the state to propose new laws and to amend or repeal existing laws by initiative measure, and to approve or reject the same in an election independent of the Legislature."
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution shall take effect on July 1, 2024.
