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State Ballot Measure Monthly: January 2017
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Five ballot measures have been certified for 2017 statewide ballots in four states so far. On January 30, 2017, the New York State Legislature approved a constitutional amendment for the ballot that would allow judges to reduce or revoke the public pension of a public officer convicted of a felony. The other four measures slated to go before voters were certified for the ballot last year or—in the case of another New York measure asking voters whether or not to hold a constitutional convention—were automatically referred by a constitutional requirement.
There will likely be between 30 and 50 statewide ballot measures in 2017, based on previous odd-numbered year elections. From 1989 through 2015, the average number of certified measures was 45, but, in the last decade, the average decreased to 35. In 1999, the number of measures certified for statewide ballots in odd-numbered years peaked at 72.
Ballot measure certifications
- Note: As the first State Ballot Measure Monthly report of 2017, this edition will list all certifications for the ballot in 2017, including measures that were certified for the ballot in 2016. Future editions will contain only the measures certified for the ballot in the preceding month.
- This amendment was designed to allow a judge to reduce or revoke the public pension of state officials who are convicted of a felony. The amendment was introduced and approved by the New York State Legislature in the 2015-2016 legislative session. New York law requires majority approval in two successive legislative sessions to refer a constitutional amendment to the voters. The proposal was approved again by both branches of the legislature on January 30, 2017. In New York, the issue of pension forfeiture for public officials rose to prominence following the criminal convictions of multiple elected officials, including Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver (D-65) and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-9) in 2015. As of 2015, the state pension system was paying out about $531,000 per year to 14 former public officials convicted of crimes. [1][2][3][4]
- This lockbox amendment was designed to require all revenue from legal settlements and awards related to natural resource damages to be earmarked for the restoration or replacement of damaged or lost natural resources, the protection of natural resources, and the payment of the legal costs of pursuing settlements and rewards. New Jersey requires either majority approval in two successive legislative sessions or 60 percent supermajority approval in one. On December 19, 2016, both branches of the legislature approved sending the amendment to the voters, with a 78 percent majority in the New Jersey Senate and a 76 percent majority in the New Jersey Assembly.
- This initiative was designed to require all state government agencies to pay no more than the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pays for prescription drugs. The proposal was backed by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which also sponsored Prop. 61 on the ballot in November 2016 in California. Pharmaceutical companies funded an opposition campaign to the turn of over $109 million, and the measure was narrowly defeated. After an effort to qualify the measure for the November 2016 election, a lawsuit over signatures, and an Ohio Supreme Court ruling, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation successfully submitted the 183,354 signatures—in two batches—required to qualify the measure for the 2017 ballot, and it was certified on September 30, 2016. The group spent $1,867,206.70 on the petition drive, which was about half a million dollars more than it spent on the petition drive for Prop. 61, even though the California signature requirement was almost double the Ohio requirement.[5][6][7]
- On April 15, 2016, both branches of the Maine State Legislature approved this bond issue to appear on the ballot of the election on June 13, 2017. The measure would authorize $50 million in bonded indebtedness, with $45 million to fund infrastructure and equipment upgrades in the state's seven targeted technology sectors—biotechnology, composites and advanced materials, environmental technologies, forest products and agriculture, information technology, marine technology and aquaculture, and precision manufacturing—and $5 million earmarked for loans to or investing in small businesses with potential for growth and job creation.[8]
- This measure asks voters if a constitutional convention should be held to consider and propose revisions to the New York Constitution. New York requires that a constitutional convention question be presented to voters every 20 years. This sort of automatic constitutional convention question is required by law in 14 states, where the length between mandatory questions ranges from nine to 20 years. However, Oklahoma, one of the 14 states, has not had a constitutional convention question on the ballot since 1970.
- In New York, the last constitutional convention question was on the ballot in 1997. Voters rejected the question, and a constitutional convention was not held.
2015 comparison
- See also: 2015 ballot measures and Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count for 2015
By early February of 2015, five measures had also been certified for statewide ballots. Ultimately, 28 measures—including five citizen initiatives—were certified for the ballot in 2015.
| Type of ballot measure | 2015 | 2013 | 2011 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legislatively referred constitutional amendments | 16 | 17 | 21 | 20 |
| Initiatives | 5 | 3 | 10 | 6 |
| Veto referendums | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Legislatively referred state statutes | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| Legislatively referred bond questions | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Automatic ballot referrals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Commission-referred ballot measures | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Advisory questions | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 28 | 31 | 34 | 32 |
2018 preview
- See also: 2018 ballot measures
Four statewide ballot measures have been certified for the 2018 ballot, in three states, as of February 10, 2017.
Two initiated constitutional amendments will be on the ballot in Nevada in 2018. These measures were approved on November 8, 2016, but Nevada law requires approval at two consecutive general elections for initiated constitutional amendments.
- Nevada Legislature to Minimize Regulations on the Energy Market and Eliminate Legal Energy Monopolies Amendment (2018)
- Nevada Medical Equipment Sales Tax Exemption Amendment (2018)
Hawaii voters will decide a constitutional convention question. Hawaii requires that a question about whether or not to hold a constitutional convention be put before voters at minimum every 10 years.
Massachusetts voters will decide a veto referendum on November 6, 2018, targeting the state's transgender anti-discrimination law—Senate Bill 2407—enacted in July 2016. Opponents of the law, which included gender identity among the characteristics against which discrimination was prohibited by state law, collected signatures to allow voters the final say, giving them a chance to overturn the bill.
See also
- Ballotpedia's Tuesday Count for 2017
- 2017 ballot measures
- Potential 2017 ballot measures
- Local ballot measure elections in 2017
- Ballot Measure Scorecard, 2017
Footnotes
- ↑ WSTM, "You finally get a say if corrupt officials keep their NYS pension," January 30, 2017
- ↑ Daily Messenger, "New York state legislators pass pension reform bill," January 30, 2017
- ↑ The Buffalo News, "Legislature approves pension forfeiture measure," January 30, 2017
- ↑ Poughkeepsie Journal, "Convicted politicos get N.Y. pensions - for now," April 20, 2015
- ↑ Business Wire, "Ohio Certifies Drug Price Ballot Measure to Go Before Voters in November 2017," September 30, 2016
- ↑ Ohio Supreme Court, "Decision in Jones v. Husted," September 9, 2016
- ↑ Business Wire, "Ohio Supreme Court Slaps Down Jon Husted; Drug Price Ballot Initiative Heading to 2017 Ballot," September 9, 2016
- ↑ Maine Legislature, "LD 1053," April 15, 2016
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