Since you want less government not more let me allow Jenny to explain things to you guys also and what HJR86 does fiscally for the state BESIDES giving us LESS government.
This is what another person asked and how she answered. CathyM Catren's Shar Pei Catren's Leather Show Accessories Kill "The Killing Fields" Bills of the HSUS <http://www.americanssupportinganimalownership.com> www.americanssupportinganimalownership.com Alan asked: <<<Please help me on this. Why would we want to make a two thirds majority mandatiory for a relatively small class? Should not the majority rule? Is this some attempt to limit the power of all citizens? >>> Jenny replies: Alan- I sent this privately, because I didn't think the list would be interested in the workings of the Petition Initiative process in MO. :) The way that the number of signatures needed for any petition initiative are calculated right now is that the number of total voters per Congressional district that voted in the most recent Gubernatorial Election are calculated and listed in order of highest to lowest, and assigned a ranking, 1-9, 1 having the highest voter turnout, 9 having the lowest. There are two kinds of petition initiatives- Statutory or Constitutional Amendment. A Statutory change requires only 5% of the number of voters in 6 Congressional districts (preferably the 6 with the highest voter turnout), while a Constitutional Amendment needs the signatures of 8% of the number of voters in 6 Congressional Districts. This last volley of petititions in Mo (23 total) required the signatures of only about 100,000 of the almost 6,000,000 residents of the State of Missouri in order to get considered to be put on the November ballot. To put this in context, 1% of the State was asked if they thought each of these initiatives were important enough to be put to a Statewide vote. The State and County resources involved in processing these petitions is huge, and the more petitions that circulate, the more tax revenues must be diverted to the Secretary of State's office and their employees for the time spent going over all the paperwork. Then the County Clerks must also validate signatures, and revenue must be diverted to that. It can be argued that this is part of their job, but the extra hours spent counting and validating 2,300,000 signatures this session divert the resources of multiple offices that could be better spent elswhere. Requiring a 2/3 majority of signatures per each Congressional District would ensure that the wants of 1% of the total population didn't overshadow the needs of the other 99%, and that the 1% didn't have the power to divert State and County resources in frivolous petition initiatives (yes, there were several of them- you'll have to look them up- they had to do with taxes in the City of St. Louis, a work tax in KC, a sales tax on house sales, etc.). A 2/3 signature total would actually increase the power of the citizens of Missouri by requiring 66% to speak, rather than 1%- it would require 66% to get off their butts and participate instead of allowing 1% to do it for them. Does that make sense? Jenny Thrasher Pict O'the Highlands Scottish Terriers www.pictothehighlands.com <http://www.pictothehighlands.com/> -- This is a Free Speech forum. The owner of this list assumes no responsibility for the intellectual or emotional maturity of its members. If you do not like what is being said here, filter it to trash, ignore it or leave. If you leave, learn how to do this for yourself. If you do not, you will be here forever.
