Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Session of 2021
                   Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 1605
                         By Senators Holland, Haley and Pittman
                                          2-1

 A PROPOSITION to amend article 14 of the constitution of the state of
    Kansas by adding a new section thereto; relating to the powers of
    initiative and referendum.
 4
 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the State of Kansas, two-thirds of the
     members elected (or appointed) and qualified to the Senate and two-
     thirds of the members elected (or appointed) and qualified to the
     House of Representatives concurring therein:
     Section 1. The following proposition to amend the constitution of
 the state of Kansas shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the state
 for their approval or rejection: Article 14 of the constitution of the state of
 Kansas is hereby amended by adding a new section to read as follows:
         "§ 3. Initiative and referendum powers. (a) (1) The
     people reserve the power to propose and enact or reject
     amendments to this constitution by initiative, independent of the
     legislature.
         (2) An initiative amendment to this constitution may be
     proposed only by a petition signed by not less than 8% of the
     qualified electors who voted in the last preceding gubernatorial
     election in each of two of the congressional districts in the state.
         (3) An initiative petition shall include the full text of the
     proposed amendment to this constitution. A proposed
     amendment shall not contain more than one subject, and the
     enacting clause thereof shall be "Be it resolved by the people of
     the State of Kansas:".
         (4) The title of each proposed amendment to this
     constitution shall be specified in the initiative petition and shall
     be a brief nontechnical statement expressing the intent or
     purpose of the proposed amendment and the effect of a vote for
     and a vote against the proposed amendment.
         (5) When more than one proposed amendment to this
     constitution is submitted at the same election, such proposed
     amendments shall be so submitted as to enable the electors to
     vote separately on each proposed amendment.
         (6) One amendment to this constitution may revise any
     entire article, except the article on general provisions, and in
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   revising any article, the article may be renumbered, and all or
   parts of other articles may be amended or amended and
   transferred to the article being revised.
       (7) Not more than five amendments proposed by initiative
   shall be submitted at the same election.
       (b) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1 of
   article 2 of this constitution, the people reserve the power to
   propose and enact or reject laws by initiative, independent of
   the legislature.
       (2) An initiative law may be proposed only by a petition
   signed by not less than 5% of the qualified electors who voted
   in the last preceding gubernatorial election in each of two of the
   congressional districts in the state.
       (3) An initiative petition shall include the full text of the
   proposed law. A proposed law shall not contain more than one
   subject, and the enacting clause thereof shall be "Be it enacted
   by the people of the State of Kansas:".
       (4) The title of each proposed law shall be specified in the
   initiative petition and shall be a brief nontechnical statement
   expressing the intent or purpose of the proposed law and the
   effect of a vote for and a vote against the proposed law.
       (5) When more than one proposed law is submitted at the
   same election, such proposed law shall be so submitted as to
   enable the electors to vote separately on each proposed law.
       (6) An initiative petition that requires the appropriation of
   moneys shall only require the appropriation of moneys directly
   attributable to revenues collected pursuant to the provisions of
   the petition, and the purpose of such appropriation shall not
   otherwise be prohibited by this constitution.
       (c) (1) The people reserve the power to approve or reject
   by referendum any bill enacted by the legislature, except as
   otherwise provided in this subsection.
       (2) A referendum on a bill, or any part thereof, may be
   ordered by a petition signed by not less than 5% of the qualified
   electors who voted in the last preceding gubernatorial election
   in each of two of the congressional districts in the state.
       (3) A referendum petition shall not be allowed on any part
   of a bill:
       (A) Necessary for the immediate preservation of the public
   peace, health or safety; or
       (B) making or repealing any appropriation of moneys.
       (4) A referendum ordered by petition on a part of a bill
   shall not delay the remainder of the bill from becoming
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   effective.
       (5) A referendum on a bill may be ordered by the
   legislature by law.
       (6) Notwithstanding section 14 of article 2 of this
   constitution, a bill ordering a referendum and a bill on which a
   referendum is ordered shall not require the signature of the
   governor or be subject to veto by the governor.
       (d) (1) Before an initiative or referendum petition may be
   circulated for signatures, a draft of such petition shall be
   submitted to the secretary of state in the form in which such
   petition will be circulated for signatures. Upon submission of a
   draft petition to the secretary of state, the name and address of
   an individual shall be provided to the secretary of state as the
   individual to whom any notices shall be sent. The secretary of
   state shall transmit a copy of the draft petition to the attorney
   general for review. The secretary of state and the attorney
   general shall each review the draft petition for sufficiency as to
   form, approve or reject the form of the draft petition and state
   the reasons for rejection, if any.
       (2) Upon receipt of a draft petition from the secretary of
   state, the attorney general shall examine the draft petition as to
   form. The attorney general shall send notice of approval or
   rejection of the draft petition to the secretary of state within 10
   days after receipt of the draft petition.
       (3) The secretary of state shall review the notice of
   approval or rejection of the attorney general and make a final
   decision as to the approval or rejection of the form of the draft
   petition. The secretary of state shall send written notice of such
   approval or rejection, including the reasons for rejection, to the
   individual designated to receive notices within 30 days after
   submission of the draft petition.
       (4) No petition may be submitted to the secretary of state
   for review until the day immediately following the date of the
   regular general election that immediately precedes the regular
   general election for which the petition is submitted.
       (5) A petition signed by the required number of qualified
   electors shall be submitted to the secretary of state on or before
   June 1 prior to the date of the next regular general election.
       (e) All elections on initiative and referendum measures
   shall be held at the regular general elections in even-numbered
   years, unless otherwise ordered by the legislature pursuant to
   subsection (c)(5).
       (f) Notwithstanding any provision of this constitution to
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    the contrary, an initiative or referendum measure shall become
    effective 30 days after the day on which it is enacted or
    approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon. When
    conflicting measures are approved at the same election, the one
    receiving the largest affirmative vote shall prevail.
        (g) If any initiative measure is not approved but receives an
    affirmative vote of at least 1/3 of the total votes cast on such
    measure, then such measure shall be placed on the ballot at the
    next regular general election in an even-numbered year without
    the submission of any petition for such measure. But no such
    measure shall be placed on the ballot at a third consecutive
    regular general election unless a petition has been submitted in
    accordance with this section.
        (h) The provisions of this section shall be self-executing,
    but legislation may be enacted to facilitate its implementation."
    Sec. 2. The following statement shall be printed on the ballot with
 the amendment as a whole:
    "Explanatory statement. This amendment would allow the
        people to propose and enact or reject amendments to the
        constitution of the state of Kansas by initiative, independent
        of the legislature. This amendment would also allow the
        people to propose and enact or reject laws by initiative,
        independent of the legislature. Finally, this amendment
        would allow a referendum on any bill enacted by the
        legislature either by petition from the people or by order of
        the legislature by law. A referendum petition would not be
        allowed on any part of a bill necessary for the immediate
        preservation of the public peace, health or safety or any part
        of a bill making or repealing any appropriation.
    "A vote for this proposition would reserve to the people the
        power to propose and enact or reject laws and amendments
        to the constitution of the state of Kansas by initiative,
        independent of the legislature, and the power to approve or
        reject by referendum any bill enacted by the legislature.
    "A vote against this proposition would not make any changes to
        the constitution and would not reserve the powers of
        initiative and referendum to the people."
    Sec. 3. This resolution, if approved by two-thirds of the members
 elected (or appointed) and qualified to the Senate and two-thirds of the
 members elected (or appointed) and qualified to the House of
 Representatives, shall be entered on the journals, together with the yeas
 and nays. The secretary of state shall cause this resolution to be published
 as provided by law and shall cause the proposed amendment to be
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 submitted to the electors of the state at the general election in November
 in the year 2022, unless a special election is called at a sooner date by
 concurrent resolution of the legislature, in which case it shall be
 submitted to the electors of the state at the special election.