Initiative and Referendum Reform Task Force

Overview

Goal

The goal of the Task Force on I&R Reform is to examine the existing initiative processes in the states and to suggest reforms that retain the advantages of the initiative and also incorporate the strengths of the legislative process.

Use of the initiative process has increased dramatically over the past decade in many of the 24 states that have initiative and referendum. More initiatives are circulated, more make it to the ballot, and more money is spent in the process than ever before. The initiative as it currently exists lacks several of the core principles of democracy, such as debate, deliberation, compromise, transparency and amendability.

The increased use of the initiative has had a negative impact on state policy and lawmaking in a number of ways:

• Initiatives often tie the hands of the legislature, preventing state legislatures from developing broad and cohesive state policies.
• Because initiative proponents rarely have access to anything comparable to the legislature's staff of professional researchers and attorneys, initiatives are often poorly drafted and have unintended consequences.
• The initiative process lacks the flexibility and deliberation of the legislative process.
• The initiative process, especially the financing of initiatives and initiative campaigns, is not subject to the requirements for transparency and disclosure that the legislative process and other campaigns must meet.
• As the use of the initiative increases, so too do opportunities for corruption, and states have few policies in place to prevent or disclose conflict of interest and other forms of corruption in the initiative process.

The initiative is a vital and popular part of democracy in half of the states. However, it is clear that the initiative has outgrown the existing state laws governing it. The NCSL-sponsored task force will gather the facts and data necessary to paint an accurate picture of how the initiative process works in each state. It will focus on the weaknesses of the process and consider ways in which it might be made more open and flexible, and how in the end a reformed initiative process might produce better policy.

NCSL is uniquely positioned to conduct such a project, because it has at its disposal a large body of existing research, staff who specialize in the subject, and access to legislators, legislative staff, and the experts in the field whose combined talents and knowledge can form a task force to take on the project. Furthermore, NCSL's involvement in such a project is a service to its members who are suffering the consequences of the increased use of the initiative. It is part of NCSL's mission to improve the quality and effectiveness of state legislatures, and the initiative process as it exists in its current form clearly has the potential to erode the quality and effectiveness of legislatures in the states where it is used.

The I&R Project has three main components: data collection and analysis of the initiative process in each of the 24 states; convening of a task force to examine the data and consider possible reforms; and publishing a policy paper with recommended reforms to the initiative process.

1. Publication - The end product of the project will be a publication containing recommended reforms to the initiative process. Other products might include a detailed database of the process that is accessible through NCSL's website, and a LegisBrief.

Contents

• I & R Process Overview
•  Meetings
• Task Force Members
• Links
• Return to Main I & R Page

Featured Links

• First Meeting
• CA 2002 Primary Results
• 2001 Ballot Measure Results
• Initiative & Referendum: in the 21st Century   (Final Report and Recommendations of the NCSL I&R Task Force)