MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency
By: Senator(s) Robinson
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 33 OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO RESERVE THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO EXERCISE THE LEGISLATIVE POWER OF THE STATE TO PROPOSE NEW LAWS AND AMEND OR REPEAL EXISTING LAWS AND TO APPROVE OR REJECT THE SAME IN AN ELECTION INDEPENDENT OF THE LEGISLATURE; PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 56 OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO CONFORM; PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 72 OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO PRECLUDE THE SECTION FROM APPLYING TO INITIATIVE MEASURES APPROVED BY THE PEOPLE; PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 273 OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO REMOVE THE BALLOT INITIATIVE POWERS OF THE PEOPLE FROM THIS SECTION, TO CHANGE THE REQUIREMENT FOR A MAJORITY OF QUALIFIED ELECTORS VOTING FOR OR AGAINST A RESOLUTION TO SIXTY PERCENT, AND TO REQUIRE THAT CONSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVES ONLY ADDRESS ONE SUBJECT OR SUBJECT MATTER; AND PROPOSING AN ADDITION TO THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO CREATE SECTION 273A, TO ESTABLISH AND OUTLINE THE CITIZEN BALLOT INITIATIVE PROCESS.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, TWO-THIRDS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, WHICH TWO-THIRDS CONSISTS OF NOT LESS THAN A MAJORITY OF THE MEMBERS ELECTED TO EACH HOUSE, That the following amendments to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 are proposed to the qualified electors of the state:
I.
Amend Section 33, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:
"Section 33. The legislative power of this state shall be vested in a legislature which shall consist of a senate and a house of representatives, but the people reserve to themselves the right to exercise the legislative power of the state to propose new laws and to amend or repeal existing laws by citizen initiative, and to approve or reject the same in an election independent of the Legislature, in the manner prescribed in and subject to the provisions of Section 273A of Article 15."
II.
Amend Section 56, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:
"Section 56. The style of the laws of the state that are enacted by the Legislature shall be: "Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Mississippi."
III.
Amend Section 61, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:
"Section 61. No law enacted by the Legislature or by initiative of the people shall be revived or amended by reference to its title only, but the section or sections, as amended or revived, shall be inserted at length."
IV.
Amend Section 72, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:
"Section 72. Every Bill which shall pass both Houses shall be presented to the Governor of the state. If he or she approves, he or she shall sign it; but if he or she does not approve, he or she shall return it, with his or her objections, to the House in which it originated, which shall enter the objections at large upon its Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds (2/3) of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, with the objections, to the other House, by which, likewise, it shall be reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds (2/3) of that House, it shall become a law; but in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the Governor within five (5) days (Sundays excepted) after it has been presented to him or her, it shall become a law in like manner as if he or she had signed it, unless the Legislature, by adjournment, prevented its return, in which case such Bill shall be a law unless the Governor shall veto it within fifteen (15) days (Sundays excepted) after it is presented to him or her, and such Bill shall be returned to the Legislature, with his or her objections, within three (3) days after the beginning of the next session of the Legislature. The provisions of this section are not applicable to initiative measures approved by the people."
V.
Amend Section 273, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:
"Section 273. (1)
Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed by the Legislature * * *.
(2) Whenever two-thirds
(2/3) of each house of the Legislature, which two-thirds (2/3) shall consist of
not less than a majority of the members elected to each house, shall deem any
change, alteration or amendment necessary to this Constitution, such proposed
amendment, change or alteration shall be read and passed by two-thirds (2/3)
vote of each house, as herein provided; public notice shall then be given by
the Secretary of State at least thirty (30) days preceding an election, at
which the qualified electors shall vote directly for or against such change,
alteration or amendment, and if more than one (1) amendment shall be submitted
at one (1) time, they shall be submitted in such manner and form that the
people may vote for or against each amendment separately; and, notwithstanding
the division of the Constitution into sections, the Legislature may provide in
its resolution for one or more amendments pertaining and relating to the same
subject or subject matter, and may provide for one or more amendments to an article
of the Constitution pertaining and relating to the same subject or subject
matter, which may be included in and voted on as one (1) amendment; and if it
shall appear that * * * sixty percent (60%) of the qualified electors voting
directly for or against the same shall have voted for the proposed change,
alteration or amendment, then it shall be inserted as a part of the Constitution
by proclamation of the Secretary of State certifying that it received the * * * sixty percent (60%) vote required
by the Constitution; and the resolution may fix the date and direct the calling
of elections for the purposes hereof.
* * *
( * * *3) The * * * Legislature shall
identify in the text of the initiative the amount and source of revenue
required to implement the initiative. If the initiative requires a reduction
in any source of government revenue, or a reallocation of funding from
currently funded programs, * * * the text of the
initiative shall state the program or programs whose funding must be
reduced or eliminated to implement the initiative. Compliance with this
requirement shall not be a violation of the subject matter requirements of this
section of the Constitution.
(4) Constitutional initiatives may only address one (1) subject or subject matter. Compliance with this shall be decided in the first by the Secretary of State and enforced by the Attorney General.
(5) The constitutional initiative process shall not be used:
(a) For the proposal, modification or repeal of any portion of the Bill of Rights of this Constitution; or
* * *
( * * *b) To modify the initiative process
for proposing amendments to this Constitution.
(6) * * * If a constitutional initiative is passed by
two-thirds (2/3) vote of each house as outlined in this section, the
Secretary of State shall place the initiative on the ballot for the next
statewide general election.
The chief legislative budget officer shall prepare a fiscal analysis of each initiative and each legislative alternative. A summary of each fiscal analysis shall appear on the ballot.
(7) * * *
An initiative * * * must receive * * * sixty percent (60%) of the total votes cast at
the election at which the measure was submitted to be approved. If conflicting
initiatives * * * are approved at the same election, the
initiative * * * receiving the highest number of affirmative
votes shall prevail.
* * *
( * * *8) * * * The sufficiency
of petitions shall be decided in the first instance by the Secretary of State,
subject to review by the Supreme Court of the state, which shall have original and
exclusive jurisdiction over all such cases.
( * * *9) An initiative approved by the
electors shall take effect thirty (30) days from the date of the official
declaration of the vote by the Secretary of State, unless the measure provides
otherwise.
( * * *10) If any amendment to the
Constitution proposed by initiative petition is rejected by a majority of the
qualified electors voting thereon, no initiative petition proposing the same,
or substantially the same, amendment shall be submitted to the electors for at
least two (2) years after the date of the election on such amendment.
( * * *11) The Legislature shall provide by
law the manner in which initiative petitions shall be circulated, presented and
certified. To prevent signature fraud and to maintain the integrity of the
initiative process the state has a compelling interest in insuring that no
person shall circulate an initiative petition or obtain signatures on an
initiative petition unless the person is a resident of this state at the time
of circulation. For the purposes of this subsection the term "resident'
means a person who is domiciled in Mississippi as evidenced by an intent to
maintain a principal dwelling place in Mississippi indefinitely and to return
to Mississippi if temporarily absent, coupled with an act or acts consistent
with that intent. Every person who circulates an initiative petition shall
print and sign his name on each page of an initiative petition, or on a
separate page attached to each page, certifying that he was a resident of this
state at the time of circulating the petition. The Secretary of State shall
refuse to accept for filing any page of an initiative petition upon which the
signatures appearing thereon were obtained by a person who was not a resident
of this state at the time of circulating the petition, and an initiative
measure shall not be placed on the ballot if the Secretary of State determines
that without such signatures the petition clearly bears an insufficient number
of signatures. The provisions of this subsection (12) shall be applicable to
all initiative measures that have not been placed on the ballot at the time
this proposed amendment is ratified by the electorate.
( * * *12) The Legislature may enact laws to
carry out the provisions of this section but shall in no way restrict or impair
the provisions of this section or the powers herein reserved to the people."
VI.
Create Section 273A, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:
Section 273A. (1) The people have the right to exercise the legislative power of the state to propose new laws and to amend or repeal existing laws by legislative initiative, and to approve or reject the same in an election independent of the Legislature.
(2) The citizen initiative process shall not be used:
(a) To propose any new amendments to or the modification or repeal of any existing provision of this constitution;
(b) To propose any new local or special law or amend or repeal any existing local or special law;
(c) To propose any new law or amend or repeal any existing law on any subject or matter that any section of this constitution prohibits the Legislature from enacting.
(3) Citizen initiatives may only address one subject or subject matter. Compliance with this shall be decided in the first by the Secretary of State and enforced by the Attorney General.
(4) A citizen initiative may be proposed by a petition signed over a twelve-month period by qualified electors equal in number to at least eight percent (8%) of the total qualified electors of the state as of the date of the last gubernatorial election. The signatures of the qualified electors from any congressional district shall not exceed the total number of signatures required to qualify an initiative measure for placement on the ballot divided by the number of congressional districts in existence on the day that the petition is filed. If an initiative petition contains signatures from a single congressional district that exceed the total number of required signatures, the excess signatures from that congressional district shall not be considered by the Secretary of State in determining whether the initiative measure qualifies for placement on the ballot.
(5) The sponsor of a citizen initiative shall identify in the text of the initiative the amount and source of revenue required to implement the initiative. If the provisions of an initiative would cause a cost to the state or require the expenditure of state funds, as determined according to law by the Legislative Budget Office or any successor agency, the sponsor also shall provide in the text of the initiative for the specific funding source or mechanism to pay the cost of the provisions of the initiative so that the initiative will not result in a reduction in state funds available for expenditure by the Legislature. If an initiative requires (a) a reduction in any source of government revenue that would cause the amount of state funds available for expenditure by the Legislature to be less than the amount of state funds appropriated for the most recent fiscal year, or (b) requires a reallocation of funding from currently funded programs, the sponsor shall identify in the text of the initiative the program or programs whose funding must be reduced or eliminated to implement the initiative.
(6) The chief legislative budget officer shall prepare a fiscal analysis of each initiative and each legislative alternative, and a summary of each fiscal analysis shall appear on the ballot.
(7) The style of all citizen initiative measures shall be: "Be it enacted by the people of the State of Mississippi."
(8) The sufficiency of petitions shall be decided in the first instance by the Secretary of State, subject to review by the Supreme Court of the state, which shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all such cases.
(9) If a citizen initiative measure is certified by the Secretary of State not less than ninety (90) days before a statewide general election, the Secretary of State shall place the initiative measure on the ballot for that statewide general election. If an initiative measure is certified by the Secretary of State less than ninety (90) days before a statewide general election, the Secretary of State shall place the initiative measure on the ballot for the next statewide general election occurring after the upcoming statewide general election.
(10) The Secretary of State shall file with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate the complete text of the certified initiative on the first day of the regular session. An initiative may be adopted or adopted as amended by a majority vote of each house of the Legislature. If the initiative is amended by the Legislature, or if no action is taken within four (4) months of the date that the initiative is filed with the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall place the initiative, on the ballot for the next statewide general election.
(11) If the Legislature amends an initiative, the amended version and the original initiative shall be submitted to the electors. In order to be approved, an initiative or legislative alternative must receive a majority of the votes cast thereon and not less than sixty percent (60%) of the total votes cast at the election at which the initiative was submitted to be approved. If conflicting initiatives or legislative alternatives are approved at the same election, the initiative or legislative alternative receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall prevail.
(12) If a citizen initiative proposed to the Legislature has been rejected by the Legislature and an alternative is passed by the Legislature in lieu thereof, the ballot titles of both such measures shall be so printed on the official ballots that a voter can express separately two (2) preferences: First, by voting for the approval of either measure or against both measures, and secondly, by voting for one (1) measure or the other measure. If the majority of those voting on the first issue is against both measures, then both measures fail, but in that case the votes on the second issue nevertheless shall be carefully counted and made public. If a majority voting on the first issue is for the approval of either measure, then the measure receiving a majority of the votes on the second issue and also receiving not less than sixty percent (60%) of the total votes cast at the election at which the initiative was submitted for approval shall be law. Any person who votes for the ratification of either measure on the first issue must vote for one (1) of the measures on the second issue in order for the ballot to be valid. Any person who votes against both measures on the first issue may vote but shall not be required to vote for any of the measures on the second issue in order for the ballot to be valid. Substantially the following form shall be in compliance with this subsection:
INITIATED BY PETITION AND ALTERNATIVE BY LEGISLATURE
Initiative Measure No. _______, entitled (here insert the ballot title of the initiative measure).
Alternative Measure No. _____A, entitled (here insert the ballot title of the alternative measure).
VOTE FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER, OR AGAINST BOTH:
FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER Initiative No. ____
OR Alternative
No. _____A .................................. ( )
AGAINST Both Initiative No. _______
AND Alternative
No. _____A .................................. ( )
AND VOTE FOR ONE
FOR Initiative Measure
No. _____A .................................. ( )
FOR Alternative Measure
No. _____A .................................. ( )
(13) Citizen initiative measures approved by the people shall not require the signature of the Governor to become law and shall not be subject to the veto power of the Governor.
(14) The Legislature shall provide by law the manner in which initiative petitions shall be circulated, presented and certified. To prevent signature fraud and to maintain the integrity of the initiative process the state has a compelling interest in ensuring that no person shall circulate an initiative petition or obtain signatures on an initiative petition unless the person is a resident of this state at the time of circulation. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "resident" means a person who is domiciled in Mississippi as evidenced by an intent to maintain a principal dwelling place in Mississippi indefinitely and to return to Mississippi if temporarily absent, coupled with an act or acts consistent with that intent. Every person who circulates an initiative petition shall print and sign his or her name on each page of an initiative petition, or on a separate page attached to each page, certifying that he or she was a resident of this state at the time of circulating the petition. The Secretary of State shall refuse to accept for filing any page of an initiative petition upon which the signatures appearing thereon were obtained by a person who was not a resident of this state at the time of circulating the petition, and an initiative shall not be placed on the ballot if the Secretary of State determines that without such signatures the petition clearly bears an insufficient number of signatures. The provisions of this subsection shall be applicable to all initiative measures that have not been placed on the ballot at the time this proposed amendment is ratified by the electorate.
(15) An initiative approved by the electors shall take effect thirty (30) days from the official declaration of the vote by the Secretary of State, unless the measure provides otherwise.
(16) The Legislature may enact laws to carry out the provisions of this section, but such laws shall in no way restrict or impair the provisions of this section or the exercise of the rights reserved to the people in this section.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That these proposed amendments shall be submitted by the Secretary of State to the qualified electors at an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2024, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law, with the proposed amendments in this resolution being voted on as one amendment.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed constitutional amendment provides that the people reserve to themselves the right to exercise the legislative power of the state to propose to exercise new laws and to amend or repeal existing laws by initiative, and to approve or reject the same in an election independent of the Legislature."