Power to the People?

Should New Hampshire citizens be able to make laws on their own, effectively bypassing the Legislature and governor? A proposal to amend the state’s Constitution to allow just that will get its first public hearing in the House Election Law Committee today.

Altogether, today is slated as the busiest day yet of the 2011 session, with 19 House and Senate committees meeting to consider more than 50 new bills.

Constitutional Amendment Concurrent Resolution 3, the proposal sponsored by freshman Rep. Jerry Bergevin (R-Manchester), would permit citizens to directly make laws through a ballot initiative process. According to the Initiative and Referendum Institute at the University of Southern California, New Hampshire is one of 26 states that does not have initiative or referendum laws in place.

Bergevin’s initiative proposal would work like this, according to CACR 3:

“Citizens seeking to enact a statute by direct initiative shall file petitions with the secretary of state. If the secretary of state receives petitions and verifies signatures on them signed by at least 5 percent of the registered voters in each precinct in the state, he shall submit the proposal to the voters by written ballot at the next biennial election. If a proposal to enact a statute is approved by a majority of those voting on the matter, it shall be effective when its adoption is proclaimed by the governor, or according to its terms, whichever is later.”

The proposal sets no guidelines or barriers to what types of law could be created under such an initiative. Theoretically, the citizenry could impose revenue or spending limits on the Legislature or add new laws pertaining to any number of civil or personal liberty issues.

For CACR 3 to become a new addition to the state Constitution, first the proposal to even add it to the ballot would need to be passed by 60 percent each in the House and Senate. Then, voters would have to approve it with a two-thirds majority in the next statewide election in 2012.

In other business, the House Election Law Committee is also considering House Bill 73, a proposal to establish a recall process for U. S. Senators.

>> The House Election Law Committee meets today in the Legislative Office Building, Room 308. Public hearings are scheduled until 2:30 p.m.

This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord.

Posted by Hilary Niles on Jan 18 2011. Filed under Government, voters' veto, Weekly Briefing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry