H.B. 220

1

INITIATIVE PROCESS AMENDMENTS
2 2000 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Sponsor: Tammy J. Rowan
5 AN ACT RELATING TO INITIATIVES; ESTABLISHING A PROCESS FOR CONSIDERING
6 INITIATIVE PETITIONS SUBMITTED TO THE LEGISLATURE; AND MAKING
7 TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.
8 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
9 REPEALS AND REENACTS:
10 20A-7-208, as last amended by Chapter 115, Laws of Utah 1999
11 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
12 Section 1. Section 20A-7-208 is repealed and reenacted to read:
13 20A-7-208. Legislative process for initiative petitions submitted to the Legislature.
14 (1) (a) Upon receipt of a copy of an initiative under Section 20A-7-201 , the Office of
15 Legislative Research and General Counsel shall review the petition to identify any technical,
16 substantive, or legal issues raised by the petition.
17 (b) After completing the review, if the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel
18 identifies issues meriting discussion, the office shall:
19 (i) inform the sponsors of that fact; and
20 (ii) invite the sponsors to schedule a meeting with the office to discuss the issues identified
21 and to consider any solutions to those issues.
22 (c) If a meeting is held and a majority of the sponsors present at the meeting vote to amend
23 the text of the petition, the sponsors shall modify the text of the initiative petition to reflect that
24 change.
25 (d) If, as a result of the meeting, any changes are made to the initiative petition, the petition
26 sponsors shall publish notice at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in Utah that:
27 (i) identifies the changes;

28 (ii) informs the persons who signed the petition that they may have their signatures
29 removed from the petition; and
30 (iii) explains the process that signers must follow to have their names removed and the
31 date by which they must act.
32 (e) (i) Persons who signed an initiative petition and who wish to have their signatures
33 removed from the petition shall provide written, signed notice, including the person's name and
34 address, to the lieutenant governor before the tenth day of the Legislature's annual general session.
35 (ii) On the eleventh day of the Legislature's annual general session, the lieutenant governor
36 shall:
37 (A) remove from the petition the names of all signers who submitted a valid written and
38 signed notice by the deadline;
39 (B) determine whether or not the petition still has sufficient signatures to be valid; and
40 (C) if the petition does not have sufficient signatures to be valid, send written notice to the
41 president of the Senate, the speaker of the House, and the director of the Office of Legislative
42 Research and General Counsel by the twelfth day of the Legislature's annual general session that
43 the petition has been disqualified.
44 (2) (a) Upon receipt of a copy of an initiative under Section 20A-7-201 , the Office of
45 Legislative Research and General Counsel shall contact the sponsors of the petition and ask them
46 if any legislators have agreed to sponsor the petition.
47 (b) If the petition sponsors identify one or more legislative sponsors, the office shall:
48 (i) contact the legislators to verify their willingness to be listed as sponsors; and
49 (ii) number and file the petition as a bill sponsored by the legislator that will carry the
50 petition in the house in which that legislator is a member.
51 (c) If the petition does not have a legislative sponsor, the office shall number and file the
52 petition as a bill sponsored by "the People of the State of Utah" in the House or Senate as
53 designated by the sponsors.
54 (d) Before an initiative petition bill is introduced, the Office of Legislative Research and
55 General Counsel shall prepare and attach a legislative review note and the Legislative Fiscal
56 Analyst shall attach a fiscal note.
57 (e) After the initiative petition bill is introduced, the initiative petition bill shall be referred
58 to a standing committee.

59 (f) The standing committee may amend the initiative petition bill if a majority of the
60 initiative petition sponsors approve the amendment.
61 (g) The standing committee shall send the bill to the floor with a committee report
62 recommending that the initiative petition bill pass or not pass.
63 (h) After receiving the standing committee report on the initiative petition bill, the
64 initiative petition bill shall be placed on the calendar.
65 (i) The body shall debate and vote on the initiative petition bill.
66 (j) If the first house passes the bill, the first house shall transmit the bill to the second
67 house for its review and action.
68 (k) The second house shall follow the procedures established in Subsections (2)(e) through
69 (2)(i).
70 (l) If the second house has amended the initiative petition bill, it shall transmit the bill to
71 the first house for their further action according to legislative rules.
72 (m) The initiative petition bill passes only if both houses of the Legislature approve the
73 same version of the initiative petition bill.
74 (3) If any law proposed by an initiative petition is enacted by the Legislature, it is subject
75 to referendum the same as other laws.
76 (4) If any law proposed by a petition is not enacted by the Legislature, that proposed law
77 shall be submitted to a vote of the people at the next regular general election if:
78 (a) sufficient additional signatures to the petition are first obtained to bring the total
79 number of signatures up to the number required by Subsection 20A-7-201 (2); and
80 (b) those additional signatures are verified, certified by the county clerks, and declared
81 sufficient by the lieutenant governor as provided in this part.




Legislative Review Note
as of 11-18-99 12:54 PM

A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel