cannabisnews.com: No Citizen Initiatives To The Legislature in 2000 





No Citizen Initiatives To The Legislature in 2000 
Posted by FoM on December 29, 1999 at 20:46:30 PT
By Hunter T. George, The Associated Press
Source: Oregon Live
It would have been a political junkie's dream: Forcing the year-2000 Legislature to consider such hot-button issues as prayer in public schools, lie-detector tests for state workers and legalized marijuana. But it's not going to happen. 
None of the people who filed a dozen initiatives this year are expected to submit petitions before Thursday's 5 p.m. deadline, according to the secretary of state's office. Backers needed the signatures of 179,248 registered voters to force the Legislature to consider their issues. Under state law, measures that do get enough signatures must be approved by the Legislature or forwarded with an alternate proposal to the November 2000 statewide ballot. The initiative proposals sought to limit the salaries of public employees, require religious instruction in public schools, legalize pot, raise the state government's spending limit, cut property taxes and create a state health insurance plan, among other things. Two proposals are expected to be back soon. They are Tim Eyman's sequels to the car-tab-slashing Initiative 695 that seek to roll back recent tax increases and shift spending on transit programs to highway construction. Eyman, the Mukilteo businessman who sponsored I-695, has said he plans to bring both measures back in the form of initiatives to the people, which would bypass the Legislature and bring them straight to the November ballot if enough signatures are collected. He filed the two measures as initiatives to the Legislature in order to speed reviews by state bill-drafters and the attorney general's office, and to give organizers a leg-up for their real goal -- the November 2000 ballot. The first day to file initiatives to the people is Jan. 7. The deadline for turning in petitions will be July 7. Published: December 29, 1999 ©1999 Oregon Live LLC
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