After flurry of campaigns, Maine lawmakers will consider restricting citizen initiatives

[jpak]

Source: Bangor Daily News

AUGUSTA, Maine — As the Maine Legislature grapples with implementation of four referendum questions passed by voters in November, it also will consider ways to restrict the citizen initiative process that put them on the ballot.

Gridlock during the six-year tenure of Gov. Paul LePage has made the citizen initiative process a more preferred avenue for change; there have been 10 proposed since he took office in 2011, as many as there were in the 60 years after Maine’s first in 1911.

But this year was perhaps the most consequential ever. Campaigns spent more than $18 million, and Mainers passed marijuana legalization (barring a recount), a surtax on income over $200,000 to fund education, a higher minimum wage and a first-in-the-nation statewide ranked-choice voting system.

Now, some lawmakers are looking to raise the bar to get questions on the ballot, which now requires signatures equaling the number of 10 percent of voters in the past gubernatorial election — or about 61,000 now. But it will face opposition from some Democrats and activists.

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Read more: https://bangordailynews.com/2016/12/03/politics/after-flurry-of-campaigns-maine-lawmakers-will-consider-restricting-citizen-initiatives/?ref=regionstate

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Fascist Pigs.

yup

[eShirl]

1. because of legislative gridlock?

here's a better idea: grow a pair of frontal lobes and impeach the governor already

[turbinetree]

2. Don't you just love how republicans (fascist) are "always" trying to suppress the voting process

of giving taxpayers the means to have "there" "their" initiatives on a ballot instead of some Koch backed right wing item of corruption.

The republicans don't want checks and balances, they don't like voters that oppose them.

Hell, they have a governor that thinks anyone of color is out and up there in white Maine raping all the white girls.

Yepper how do you spell republican(s) --------------FASCIST