Bill Text: MS HC40 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Constitution; amend to provide that the people have the right to propose new laws or amend existing laws by initiative.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2022-02-01 - Died In Committee [HC40 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2022-HC40-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2022 Regular Session
To: Constitution
By: Representative Arnold
House Concurrent Resolution 40
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 33, 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, AND TO APPROVE OR REJECT THE SAME IN AN ELECTION INDEPENDENT OF THE LEGISLATURE; TO PROVIDE THAT SUCH AN INITIATIVE MEASURE MAY BE PROPOSED BY A PETITION SIGNED OVER A TWELVE-MONTH PERIOD BY QUALIFIED ELECTORS EQUAL IN NUMBER TO AT LEAST TWELVE PERCENT OF THE VOTES FOR ALL CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR IN THE LAST GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION; TO PROVIDE THAT 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; TO PROVIDE THAT IN ORDER TO BE APPROVED, AN INITIATIVE MEASURE MUST RECEIVE A MAJORITY OF THE VOTES CAST AND NOT LESS THAN FORTY PERCENT OF THE TOTAL VOTES CAST AT THE ELECTION AT WHICH THE INITIATIVE MEASURE WAS SUBMITTED; TO PROVIDE THAT IF CONFLICTING INITIATIVE MEASURES ARE APPROVED AT THE SAME ELECTION, THE INITIATIVE MEASURE RECEIVING THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF AFFIRMATIVE VOTES SHALL PREVAIL AND BECOME LAW.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendment to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 is proposed to the qualified electors of the state:
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 legislative power of the state to propose new laws and to amend or repeal existing laws by initiative, 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 process shall not be used:
(a) To propose amendments to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890;
(b) To propose any new law or amend or repeal any existing law relating to the Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System; or
(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.
(3) As used in this section, the term "initiative measure" or "measure" means a document proposing a new law or amending or repealing an existing law that is the functional equivalent of a bill that is introduced in the Legislature.
(4) The sponsor of an initiative measure shall identify in the text of the measure the amount and source of revenue required to implement the measure. If the provisions of an initiative measure would cause a substantial cost to the state or require the substantial expenditure of state funds, as determined according to law by the Legislative Budget Office or any successor agency, the sponsor also shall provide in the text of the measure for the specific funding source or mechanism to pay the cost of the provisions of the measure so that the measure will not result in a reduction in state funds available for expenditure by the Legislature. If an initiative measure requires a reduction in any source of government revenue, or a reallocation of funding from currently funded programs, the sponsor shall identify in the text of the measure the program or programs whose funding must be reduced or eliminated to implement the measure.
(5) The chief legislative budget officer shall prepare a fiscal analysis of each initiative measure, and a summary of each fiscal analysis shall appear on the ballot.
(6) An initiative measure authorized under this section may be proposed by a petition signed over a twelve-month period by qualified electors equal in number to at least twelve percent (12%) of the votes for all candidates for Governor in the last gubernatorial 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 petition contains signatures from a single congressional district that exceed the total number of required signatures, the excess number of 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.
(7) The sufficiency of 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 cases.
(8) If an initiative measure is certified by the Secretary of State not less than ninety (90) days before a statewide general election, the Secretary of State shall place the initiative measure on the ballot for that statewide general election. If an initiative measure is certified by the Secretary of State less than ninety (90) days before a statewide general election, the Secretary of State shall place the initiative measure on the ballot for the next statewide general election occurring after the upcoming statewide general election.
(9) In order to be approved, an initiative measure must receive a majority of the votes cast thereon and not less than forty percent (40%) of the total votes cast at the election at which the initiative measure was submitted.
(10) If conflicting initiative measures are approved at the same election, the initiative measure receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall prevail and become law.
(11) An initiative measure approved by the people shall take effect thirty (30) days from the date of the official declaration of the vote by the Secretary of State, unless the measure provides otherwise.
(12) If an initiative measure does not receive the required number of votes to be approved by the people as provided in subsection (9) of this section, an initiative measure that proposes the same, or substantially the same, provisions as those in the initiative measure that failed shall not be submitted to the electors for at least two (2) years after the date of the election on the initiative measure that failed.
(13) The Legislature shall provide by law the manner in which initiative petitions shall be circulated, presented and certified. To prevent signature fraud and to maintain the integrity of the initiative process, the state has a compelling interest in insuring that no person shall circulate an initiative petition or obtain signatures on an initiative 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 petition shall print and sign his or her name on each page of an initiative 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 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.
(14) 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."
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this proposed amendment 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 2022, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law.
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 have the right to propose new laws and to amend or repeal existing laws by initiative, and to approve or reject the same in an election independent of the Legislature."
