JACKSON • As the 2022 legislative session comes to a close, the likelihood of lawmakers reviving the process that allows Mississippians to bypass the Legislature and place topics directly on a ballot looks dim.
Rep. Fred Shanks, R-Brandon, is the lead House negotiator on restoring the state’s initiative process. He told the Daily Journal the House and Senate are still at political loggerheads over the issue.
“I just don’t think it’s going to happen,” Shanks said.
The political impasse appears to be over the number of signatures needed to place an issue on a statewide ballot.
The House argues that the number of signatures should be equal to 12% of the people who voted during the last statewide election for governor. The Senate wants the signatures to be equal to 12% of the registered voters – including those who did not vote – on the day of the last presidential election, which is a much higher threshold.
The required number of signatures of registered voters needed under the House plan would be about 106,000. Under the Senate proposal, it would be about 238,000.
Sen. John Polk, R-Hattiesburg, is the lead Senate negotiator. He told reporters last week the higher signature threshold would ensure “enough Mississippians care about the issue that is being presented.”
Lawmakers are in the final days of the session and are finalizing a state budget for the next fiscal year. The Legislature usually adjourns the session once the budget is passed.
If legislative leaders cannot agree on how the state should restore the initiative process, it would mean that citizens have no way to circumvent state government to place items directly on the ballot.
Both chambers do appear to agree that the initiative process should only be used to change state laws, and that the signatures should be gathered equally from however many congressional districts the state has at the time.
The Mississippi Supreme Court invalidated the state’s initiative process in 2021 over technical issues when it was considering a lawsuit over medical marijuana.
