RI’s proposed Voter Initiative legislation
addresses problems with the process in other states.

No state has all of these features and some states have a few, as listed below:

1. This legislation is for an indirect initiative, which means there is a legislative review process with hearings on any proposed initiative. After 7 months of collecting the required signatures, the initiative must be submitted to the general assembly by March 1 of a general election year. The signature collection process, the verification of signatures and the legislative review process guarantees at least 18 months of public discussion and debate on the issue. (This is more time than given to most bills that pass through the General
   Assembly.) If the general assembly passes a statutory initiative, then it need not go on the
   ballot. If the general assembly does not pass the initiative, then it will go on the ballot and
   each legislator’s vote will go into the voter information handbook that is mailed to all
   households. An initiative for a constitutional amendment would need to be ratified by the
   voters, even if the general assembly approves the initiative. (Only MA and MS require the
   indirect process for a constitutional amendment and ME, MA, MI, NE, and OH require
   the indirect process for a statutory initiative.)
2. Language in the constitutional amendment protects the civil rights and liberties of
   individuals and groups of individuals. “No initiative shall be permitted which shall abridge
   the civil rights or liberties, including those guaranteed by Article I of the Rhode Island
   Constitution or attempt to preclude the expansion of civil rights of any individual or group of
   individuals, and no initiative shall be permitted which would repeal or amend this sentence.”
   The secretary of State shall deny any petition that he/she thinks will violate civil rights. The
   legislation further provides for an expedited Superior Court review for any person or group
   that thinks a proposed initiative will violate their civil rights. (Only MA has similar
   protections.)
3. Any Initiative affecting the state budget will not be effective until the fiscal year following
   the election. Additionally, if an initiative proposes to increase expenditures by more than
   $500,000, the proponents must identify a source of state revenue, taxes or other cuts that
   would balance the effect of the initiative on the budget.
4. A fiscal impact statement will be prepared by the secretary of state, the treasurer, and the
   director of administration in consultation with the senate and house fiscal advisors. Any
   fiscal impact over $200,000 will appear in the voter information handbook and on the ballot.
   (Only CA, ME, NV, OR and UT mandate that a fiscal impact statement be printed in
   the voter pamphlet.)
5. The signatures gathered on a petition for a statutory initiative must equal 5 percent of the
   total number of votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election (about 20,000
   signatures) and 10 percent for an amendment to the Constitution. (MA requires only 3 %,
   CA requires 5 % and 8%, CO 5% and 5%.)
6. This required percentage of signatures must be gathered from 50% of the cities and towns,
   four of which must be cities. (From the Initiative and Referendum Institute, “Over 60%
   of all initiative activity has taken place in just six states; AZ, CA, CO, ND, OR, WA, all
   without a geographic distribution requirement. States with severe distribution
   requirements like ID, MS, UT, WY rarely have initiatives on their ballot.) Only 13
   states have any geographic requirement and most requirements are much less rigid
   than in RI.
7. An initiative that has a singular or exclusive impact on any city or town must also be
   approved by the voters of that city or town.
8. An initiative can only take place at a general election. (Maine, California, Colorado and 6
   other states have initiatives at off-year elections, or primary elections, with low voter
   turnout.)
9. This legislation includes comprehensive campaign finance disclosure requirements
   throughout the entire initiative process. When gathering petition signatures, each “circulator”
   must have a detailed campaign finance report on hand for anyone to review prior to signing
   the petition documents. Voters would be able to determine the source of campaign
   contributions, and also, the parties of interest that are sponsoring the initiative.
10. If the general assembly determines that a mistake has been made with an initiative, (even
    legislators make mistakes with bills they pass), the general assembly can override any
    initiative approved by the voters with a three-fourths vote during the first four years
    following the vote. After 4 years, a simple majority of legislators can override an initiative.
    (CA is the only state where the legislature may not repeal or amend a statutory
    initiative. Other states have a designated number of years before they can repeal an
    initiative or a super majority vote to do so.)

For all of the above reasons, the California Commission on Campaign Financing in 1998, judged RI’s proposed legislation to be model voter initiative legislation.