That's what CQ claims in this interesting story. The angle of the piece is that initiatives, compared to past presidential years, are down this year in the 24 states that permit them because of a weariness among lawmakers and restrictions on signature gatherers. There's a grain of truth there, but the story claims more than it can prove. 

While the numbers are undeniably down from the '90s, it's awfully early to be counting this year's measures. Dozens of initiatives around the country are still gathering signatures and waiting for verification and certification for the ballot. What's more, a year to year comparison based on presidential years doesn't tell you much about ballot initiative trends. Many states hold their biggest elections in non-presidential years, making that a better time for initiative. (In fact, since initiative sponsors often are as interested in attention for their issue as winning, presidential years make a very bad time for initiatives). This methodology also discounts special elections, like California's eight-initiative monster in 2005.