Idaho is trying to make it more difficult for voters to put initiatives on the ballot: NPR

This week in Idaho, voters voted against a bill that would make it more difficult for citizens to solve the problems that matter to them, from the development of Medicaid to marijuana.

Twenty-six states allow voter-driven initiatives, but as this process grows in popularity, Maine lawmakers in Utah and Idaho believe it's time to pull it off.

In November, voters in Idaho surpassed Medicaid's expansion by 61 percent. "I've always thought that if you do not like the current situation, you should act," says Carol Richel, a third-generation Idahoan who, along with thousands of other volunteers, has worked to as the expansion of Medicaid comes to the fore. the ballot.

When it was passed, the bill would make it more difficult for citizens to submit initiatives to state voters by asking almost twice as many people to sign petitions in a third of cases.

In addition, signatures should come from almost every legislative district of a state representing more than 40 times the physical size of Delaware.

According to Richel and others, the expansion of Medicaid would not have been possible under the proposed law, sponsored by Republican Senator Scott Grow.

"I must say that I've been incredibly disappointed that he wants to take the voice off people," Richel said.

Senator Grow says he does not want Idaho to become a state like California, where there are at least several ballot proposals every two years. "This right to propose electoral initiatives can be pushed to the extreme, reducing the effectiveness and efficiency of state government," Grow said.

But the hundreds of people who came to a public hearing earlier this week said the bill was an attack on their constitutional rights. Six members of the public were able to speak before Republican Senator Patti Anne Lodge, chair of the committee, tried to prevent a packed room from testifying. They finally scheduled another hearing for Friday.

Now Carol Richel is volunteering again. She and others go door-to-door in the Boise neighborhood, a suburb of Sen. Grow, trying to create their own reaction.

In other states, elected officials have completely repealed or significantly undermined the laws promulgated by voters in recent years, according to Josh Altic, who follows the initiatives of the website Ballotpedia.

In 2017, the South Dakota Legislature overturned a measure that expanded the laws on campaign finance reports. Florida initially banned smoking marijuana for medical purposes after voters changed their constitution to legalize it. Altic says that he sees these movements more often.

"You would think that there would be some kind of political consequence to overturning an approved decision in the ballot," he said. "I think we're still waiting to see what these spin-offs could be."

If the bill is passed in Idaho, voters could still try to repeal it. But they would have to follow the new rules, more restrictive, to make it appear on the ballot.