Big Government at it’s worst, trying to suppress the voice of the people. Enjoy your next two years Gov, we’re not going to make it easy for you. 2014 will be here before we know it.
(Examiner) One day after the voters upheld the legislature on three ballot initiatives, Governor O’Malley is threatening to make the petition process more difficult for the people.
When our elected officials pass a bill that is unpopular with the people, our only recourse and constitutional right is to petition it to referendum, which puts it on the ballot at the next general election so the voters can have final say.
This election cycle, three bills passed by the state general assembly were petitioned to referendum by the people in our exercise of the citizen’s veto power over the legislature. The current process to petition a bill to the ballot is cumbersome, and requires tens of thousands of signatures to be collected in a short timeframe under stringent rules. As a result, only three of the approximately 3,000 bills passed in this cycle made it to the ballot. That represents one-tenth of one percent of the total bills considered. Governor O’Malley thinks that’s too much say to be in the hands of the people.
