HB 2556 provides for
changes in the initiative and referendum processes as provided in statute.
Provisions
·Requires the Secretary of State to prepare an official
title for any proposed law, constitutional amendment or measure, and stipulates
that this title must be appended to each petition before any signatures may be
collected.
·Requires the Secretary of State to notify the applicant
for the initiative or referendum petition that the Legislative Council will
review the proposed law, constitutional amendment or measure and will make its
recommendations available to the public.Also allows the applicant to request that the Legislative Council’s
review be done before the applicant collects signatures.
·Provides for joint and several liability for a
political committee, political committee chairman and the political committee
treasurer for the costs incurred for signature verification if one-third or
more of the signatures are invalid.
·Requires Legislative Council to review initiatives or
referenda for substantive import, unclear or inconsistent provisions and
conflicts with existing law.
·Requires Legislative Council to recommend appropriate
changes and make the recommendations public.
·Makes technical and conforming changes.
HB 2556 was amended in the Judiciary
Committee as follows:
·Makes a technical change by replacing a gender-specific
pronoun with a gender-neutral reference.
HB 2556 was amended in the Committee of the
Whole as follows:
·Adopted the Judiciary Committee Amendment.
·Adopted a technical and conforming change as
recommended by the Rules Committee.
·Specifies that the Executive Director of the
Legislative Counsel shall review the proposed measure and make appropriate
recommendations, rather than the ten-member legislative body named Legislative
Counsel.
·Eliminates the provision which provides that the
analysis by Legislative Council be made available to the public.