Medical Marijuana

Two Michigan Measures Reach The Ballot, But Not Democratic Initiative

Joe Mathews — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:23:00 -0400

Two Michigan measures -- one to lift restrictions on stem cell research, the other to permit use of marijuana for medical purposes -- have qualified for the ballot. But a third measure -- the Democratic-inspired initiative to cut legislators' pay, change the courts, and downsize the legislature -- was not placed on the ballot. (This is the measure, you'll recall, that was billed as a goo-goo reform effort before the discovery of a Power Point presentation that showed it to be part of a labor-Democrat effort to curb the mostly Republican courts). A court likely will decide whether that initiative makes the ballot. The AP sums it up.

Will Obama-McCain Choice Affect Michigan Marijuana Initiative?

Joe Mathews — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:52:00 -0400

That's the argument of this piece in the Michigan Messenger. An initiative to legalize marijuana for medical purposes should be on the November ballot.

Tuesday Round Up: Massachusetts Goes to the Dogs

Joe Mathews — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:39:00 -0400

MASSACHUSETTS DOGS: Massachusetts gives the legislature the chance to act on initiative proposals before they head to the ballot. A measure to ban dog racing in the state, which would close two tracks (including, I believe, the one you see Minnie Driver and Matt Damon visit during a date in Good Will Hunting), did not get the approval of a state panel, so it appears headed for the November ballot.

COLORADO SPEAKER TAKING IT TO THE PEOPLE: The Democratic speaker of Colorado's House says his proposal to alter the state's constitution rules on budgeting has no chance of passing the legislature, so he's going to qualify an initiative for the ballot. The proposal would undo parts of the state's voter-approved Taxpayer Bill of Rights, allowing the state to keep revenue above previous limits.

ANTI MARIJUANA INITIATIVE DROPPED: Organizers of an initiative to reverse Oregon's medical marijuana law have dropped the effort. Not enough time and money to get the signatures, the main sponsor tells Williamette Week.

MARYLAND SLOTS CONSENSUS: Labor and business groups are lining up behind a measure to legalize slot machines in Maryland to balance the budget.

GEORGIA PROPERTY TAX QUESTION: A ballot measure, referred to voters by the Georgia legislature, poses the question of whether property tax money intended for that state's schools may be redirected to redevelopment projects by local governments. Georgia has permitted this for years, but the state supreme court in February ruled the practice unconstitutional.

LOCAL SF BALLOT MEASURE HEATS UP: Lennar Corp is advertising heavily in favor of its municipal San Francisco initiative to approve its development plan for the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. One question I have about Lennar: Given Lennar's financial troubles, how can San Franciscans be sure that the company will be able to develop what it promises? Lennar has had to abandon projects all over the country; in Anaheim, Calif., not far from where I live, is a giant overgrown field in the ground where a Lennar project was supposed to go.

Monday Round Up: The Right Leaves Arnold

Joe Mathews — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:50:00 -0400

REPUBLICANS GO AFTER GOVERNOR: This story from the Redding paper is worth a read for those who follow California politics. Republican politicians in the far north of the state sharply criticized Schwarzenegger's handling of the budget, during a public meeting late last week and: Sam Aanestad, a state senator, sounds particularly angry. He says that Schwarzenegger is sending mixed signals (though that's hardly a new charge, and accurate given the incredible diversity of his administration and his management methods, which encourage internal arguments). But he goes even further by saying that Schwarzenegger does not have the state's best interests at heart. "He's much more interested in the governor's future than in Californians'. He's got two more years. He can slide through and become a senator," Aanestad said.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: My post Friday on Gov. Schwarzenegger's personal spending on initiatives should have said that his latest donations to the redistricting initiative come from his political committee, not his own pocket. As the Sacramento Bee correctly points out today.

IT'S OVER: While running for governor in the 2003 recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger fought hard for the endorsements of anti-tax conservatives, especially those at the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Assn. Longtime Howard Jarvis official Jon Coupal sees Schwarzenegger's opposition to his eminent domain initiative, Prop. 98, as a final straw. Their relationship is over.

CHRONICLE ON DENHAM RECALL: The paper reports that there's not much grass roots support for recalling the Republican state senator.

SKELTON ON REDISTRICTING: The LA Times columnist weighs in and sounds supportive of the redistricting initiative and a possible counter-measure that could be put on by the legislature.

COLORADO DRUGS: This story frm the CBS affiliate in Denver is getting a ton of attention, because of claims from a DEA agent that Denver's law making legal small amounts of mairjuana -- and a statewide initiative to legalize marijuna for medicinal purposes -- have made Colorado a hotbed of organized crime.

SOUTH DAKOTA AND ABORTION: Another anti-aboriton initiatives makes the ballot in South Dakota. This has more exceptions -- rape, incest, life and health of the mother -- than the initiative that failed in 2006.

Thursday Round Up: A Look at a Petition Firm

Joe Mathews — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:59:00 -0400

DEPARTMENT OF MOON HOWLING: The Las Vegas Review & Journal takes a long look at one of the country's more important signature firms, National Voter Outreach and its CEO Rick Arnold. I've interviewed Arnold in his Carson City home, and found him to be one of the more thoughtful people in the petition trade, critical of its problems and clear-eyed about its limitations. This story is built heavily around criticism from the liberal/progressive Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which is quick to lable signature gathering as corrupt (at least in cases where it opposes the cause in question). There is a "shocked, shocked" quality to this criticism. The signature gathering business has plenty of problem workers, many of them poorly trained folks who, for lifestyle reasons, have taken a job that usually pays them in cash. But BISC and other critics invariably propopse to criminalize the process of gathering signatures, as in Oklahoma. In supporting these restrictions, liberals are hurting themselves, by establishing precedents restricting political speech that can be used by their political opponents. And such restrictions don't stop direct democracy. They merely slow it down, adding to the costs (and thus the influence of interest groups) that progressives love to denounce. The more you regulate, the more firms like National Voter Outreach will benefit.

BLOOMIE AND ARNOLD: Mike Bloomberg, deepening his involvement in California initiative politics, hosts a fundraiser tonight on behalf of Gov. Schwarzenegger's redistricting ballot initiative. It's still gathering signatures on the street.

MICHIGAN POT: Medical marijuana initiative makes the ballot in Michigan after legislature declines to adopt the measure itself. (hat tip to Ballotpedia).

INDIVIDUAL MANDATE: A ballot initiative to establish an individual mandate for health care in Michigan is now circulating on the street.

NO ANIMAL CONFINEMENT MEASURE IN COLORADO: Colorado's ballot will be a little less crowded, as animal rights advocates drop their farm animal confinement measure. The state legislature passed legislation similar enough to satisfy the initiative's backers.

OAKLAND YOUTH: Here's an interesting report on a city of Oakland (Calif.) ballot initiative to double funding for a youth services program.

NEVADA NEUTRALITY: School superintendents, never fan of teachers' union, are staying out of a coming mega-ballot war in Nevada over the union's effort to raise taxes on gaming to generate more funds for education.

MAINE DEBATE: A referendum question has been submitted in Maine that would remove "sexual orientation" from human rights and discrimination law, and bar same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples.

PARENTAL NOTIFICATION: Here's a description of another attempt, via California blalot initiative, to require parental notification for minors seeking abortions. A similar initiative went down in the 2005 special election. Over the past week, I found this initiative was a low priority for the state's signature gatherers. It's pay $1 or less a signature, half the price being paid by sponsors of redistricting, crime victims' rights, and alternative fuel measures.

FROM OVERSEAS: Croatians won't get to vote on their country's decision to join NATO.

Now Qualifying

Joe Mathews — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:32:00 -0400

As a regular feature, I'll provide updates measures as they qualify in California and around the country.

This weekend's qualifiers: Medical marijuana makes the ballot in Michigan. (Five cities already have municipal measures)... Ban on same sex marriage (and maybe civil unions) in Florida…