The proposed bill, S. 95, aims to establish a formal procedure for the enactment or repeal of laws in South Carolina through initiative petitions and referendums by amending the Constitution of South Carolina. It introduces Section 1B to Article III, which sets forth the requirements for initiating a petition, including a minimum of twelve percent of the total votes for Governor in the last election and a twelve-month timeframe for signature collection. The bill also requires initiatives to specify the amount and source of revenue needed for implementation and outlines subjects that cannot be addressed through these petitions. Certified initiatives must be filed with each branch of the General Assembly, which has the authority to adopt, amend, or reject them by majority vote.

Additionally, the bill proposes to amend Article XVI by adding Section 4, allowing the public to propose constitutional amendments through a similar initiative process, requiring at least fifteen percent of the votes for Governor for signature collection. The General Assembly is responsible for creating laws to facilitate this process, ensuring that certain constitutional provisions remain unaltered. The bill limits the number of initiatives that can be submitted at one election to five and stipulates that any initiative approved by voters is certified unless stated otherwise. The proposed amendments will be presented to voters in the next general election, allowing the electorate to decide on the establishment of these initiative and referendum processes.