HCR 2016 — initiatives; supermajority vote requirement

HOUSEHCR2016 FLOOR- AMENDMENT551R EXPLANATION- BillH Number:Ver       House Engrossed   initiatives;

HCR2016supermajority Dunnvote Floorrequirement Amendment  The  DUNN  floorState amendment:of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-fifth Legislature First Regular Session         HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 2016       A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION   proposing an amendment to the constitution of arizona;

amending Article IV, part 1, section 1, Constitution of Arizona;

amending Article XXI, section 1, Constitution of Arizona;

relating to initiative and referendum measures.

    (TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)   Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring:

ModifiesArticle theIV, constitutionalpart approval1, thresholdsection for1, theConstitution followingof fromArizona, ais majorityproposed to 55%:be amended as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

a)START_STATUTE1. Effective date of initiative and referendum measures;

b)Legislative Vetoauthority; of initiative or referendum;

c) Legislature's power to repeal or amend an initiative orand referendum;referendum Section 1.

d)(1) Legislature'sSenate; power to appropriate or divert funds created by an initiative or referendum;

e)house Proclamation of therepresentatives; canvass of votes;

reservation of power to people.  The legislative authority of the state shall be vested in the legislature, consisting of a senate and f)a Reservationhouse of legislativerepresentatives, power.but the people reserve the power to propose laws and amendments to the constitution and to enact or reject such laws and amendments at the polls, independently of the legislature;

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2016(2) DUNNInitiative FLOORpower. AMENDMENT HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AMENDMENTS TO H.C.R.

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SJ/ls(3) Referendum power;

emergency measures;

effective date of acts.

The second of these reserved powers is the referendum.

Under this power the legislature, or five per centum percent of the qualified electors, may order the submission to the people at the polls of any measure, or item, section,  or part of any measure, enacted by the legislature, except laws immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health,  or safety, or for the support and maintenance of the departments of the state government and state institutions;

but to allow opportunity for referendum petitions, no act passed by the legislature shall be operative for ninety days after the close of the session of the legislature enacting such measure, except such as require earlier operation to preserve the public peace, health,  or safety, or to provide appropriations for the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and of state institutions;

provided, that no such emergency measure shall be considered passed by the legislature unless it shall state in a separate section why it is necessary that it shall become immediately operative, and shall be approved by the affirmative votes of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the legislature, taken by roll call of ayes and nays, and also approved by the governor;

and should such measure be vetoed by the governor, it shall not become a law unless it shall be approved by the votes of three-fourths of the members elected to each house of the legislature, taken by roll call of ayes and nays.

(4) Initiative and referendum petitions;

filing.

All petitions submitted under the power of the initiative shall be known as initiative petitions, and shall be filed with the secretary of state not less than four months preceding the date of the election at which the measures so proposed are to be voted upon.

 All petitions submitted under the power of the referendum shall be known as referendum petitions, and shall be filed with the secretary of state not more than ninety days after the final adjournment of the session of the legislature which shall have passed the measure to which the referendum is applied.

The filing of a referendum petition against any item, section,  or part of any measure shall not prevent the remainder of such measure from becoming operative.

(5) Effective date of initiative and referendum measures.

Any measure or amendment to the constitution proposed under the initiative, and any measure to which the referendum is applied, shall be referred to a vote of the qualified electors, and shall become law when approved by a  majority fifty-five percent of the votes cast thereon and upon proclamation of the governor, and not otherwise.

(6) (A) Veto of initiative or referendum.  The veto power of the governor shall not extend to an initiative measure approved by a majority fifty-five percent of the votes cast thereon or to a referendum measure decided by a majority fifty-five percent of the votes cast thereon.

(6) (B) Legislature's power to repeal initiative or referendum.  The legislature shall not have the power to repeal an initiative measure approved by a majority fifty-five percent of the votes cast thereon or to repeal a referendum measure decided by a majority fifty-five percent of the votes cast thereon.

(6) (C) Legislature's power to amend initiative or referendum.  The legislature shall not have the power to amend an initiative measure approved by a majority fifty-five percent of the votes cast thereon, or to amend a referendum measure decided by a majority fifty-five percent of the votes cast thereon, unless the amending legislation furthers the purposes of such measure and at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature, by a roll call of ayes and nays, vote to amend such measure.

(6) (D) Legislature's power to appropriate or divert funds created by initiative or referendum.  The legislature shall not have the power to appropriate or divert funds created or allocated to a specific purpose by an initiative measure approved by a majority fifty-five percent of the votes cast thereon, or by a referendum measure decided by a majority fifty-five percent of the votes cast thereon, unless the appropriation or diversion of funds furthers the purposes of such measure and at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature, by a roll call of ayes and nays, vote to appropriate or divert such funds.

(7) Number of qualified electors.  The whole number of votes cast for all candidates for governor at the general election last preceding the filing of any initiative or referendum petition on a state or county measure shall be the basis on which the number of qualified electors required to sign such petition shall be computed.

(8) Local, city, town or county matters.  The powers of the initiative and the referendum are hereby further reserved to the qualified electors of every incorporated city, town,  and county as to all local, city, town,  or county matters on which such incorporated cities, towns,  and counties are or shall be empowered by general laws to legislate.  Such incorporated cities, towns,  and counties may prescribe the manner of exercising said powers within the restrictions of general laws.

Under the power of the initiative fifteen per centum percent of the qualified electors may propose measures on such local, city, town,  or county matters, and ten per centum percent of the electors may propose the referendum on legislation enacted within and by such city, town,  or county.  Until provided by general law, said cities and towns may prescribe the basis on which said percentages shall be computed.

(9) Form and contents of initiative and of referendum petitions;

verification.