Putting the Power of the Initiative Back in the Hands of Citizens

Secretary of State candidate Debra Bowen (D) has recently authored a bill on initiative reform requiring signature gatherers to disclose whether they're paid or are volunteers. She beleives this will "reduce the advantage enjoyed by well-heeled special interests in qualifying ballot initiatives."

What is puzzling, however, is that the termed-out senator also wants to increase the cost of qualifying an initiative by supporting legislation that would require signature gatherers to be paid by the hour.

This will only help to further disenfranchise average citizens by making the initiate process the exclusive legislative tool of wealthy special interests.

Since circulators are usually paid based on the number of "valid" signatures they collect, requiring hourly payment for petition circulators will not only increase the cost of qualifying an initiative, but also lead to increase fraud.

What we need to do is limit the control of big money on initiatives, not embolden them even more by making the process even more expensive.

When the initiative process envisioned by Governor Hiram Johnson was adopted in 1911, it was intended as a powerful tool that would allow "ordinary" citizens to counteract the controlling influence of corporations and wealthy individuals over the state Legislature.

Unfortunately, what has happened over the past 25 years is that the very special interests that initiatives were designed to protect against now manipulate the process for their own gain.

In California, wealthy interests can hide the sources of their ballot initiative funding and spend whatever it takes to communicate deceitful messages to voters about the merits of a ballot measure without disclosing who is funding the initiative.

If an interest group can raise a couple millions of dollar to pay signatures gathers they can easily manipulate the electorate through anonymous and deceitful television advertisements about the merits of a ballot measure.

The initiative process is now the favorite legislative tool of big-money special interests like pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, wealthy individuals, elected officials, or well-financed special interest groups.

Minority organizations and citizen groups, on the other hand, rarely, if ever, place an initiative on the ballot.

To give the power of the initiative back to the citizens of California and to stop moneyed interest from by-passing the legislative process for their pet projects, the state of California should enact the following reforms:

• Set spending limits for gathering signatures, and require an initiative to pass with 60% of the vote if signature gathering expenses exceed voluntary spending limits.



• Set lower signature requirements for grassroots organization that do not use paid signature gatherers.



• Require signature gathers to show which special interests are bankrolling an initiative.



• Hold ballot measure committees accountable by requiring full disclosure in a timely manner, so that voters know who is spending the money to support an initiative and how much money they're spending.



• Create an independent commission to review initiatives to ensure that the official language on the ballot accurately describes the question to voters, as is currently done in Colorado.