Utah House Bill 192 (2014)

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House Bill 192
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Legislature:Utah House of Representatives
Text:HB 192
Sponsor(s):Rep. Jon Stanard (R-62) & Sen. Margaret Dayton (R-15)
Legislative history
Introduced:February 24, 2014
State house:March 10, 2014
State senate:March 11, 2014
Governor:Gary R. Herbert (R)
Signed:April 1, 2014
Legal environment
State law:State and local initiative and referendum
Code:Elections code
Section:Sections 20A-7-203, 303, 503 & 603
Impact on initiative rights
Citizens in Charge Foundation#Legislation ratingsUnavailable

Utah House Bill 192, which required additional explanatory statements on initiative and referendum petition sheets, was sponsored by Rep. Jon Stanard (R-62) and Sen. Margaret Dayton (R-15). It was introduced on February 24, approved in the State House on March 10 and in the Senate a day later. Gov. Herbert (R) signed the bill into law on April 1, 2014.[1]

Provisions

HB 192 added a statement to any statewide or local initiative petition signature sheet stating that each signer has read and understands the law proposed by the petition. It also added a statement to a statewide or local referendum petition signature sheet stating that a signer has read and understands the law the petition seeks to overturn.[2][1]

Support

Supporters of this bill said that it would prevent people signing petitions when they do not understand what the petition accomplishes, basically ensuring transparency and preventing circulators from manipulating or lying to voters just to get an issue on the ballot.[2]

Opposition

Opponents argued that this bill was just another attempt to make it harder to qualify an initiative or referendum measure for the ballot, masquerading as an effort for transparency. Such opponents said the law would take power away from direct democracy by lowering the number of initiatives and referendum voters would get to decide.[2]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Utah Legislation website, "Utah House Bill 192," accessed August 2014
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 UtahPolicy.com, "Proposed Legislation Would Make it Harder to Get Citizen Initiatives on the Ballot," February 24, 2014
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