As Montanans, we are guaranteed by our state's constitution the right to direct involvement in our democracy.  The citizens' initiative process allows Montanans to draft and pass their own laws through the ballot box. The initiative process has created several  key Montana laws including some of the strongest campaign finance reform laws in the country and environmental protections such as a ban on the use of cyanide in mining processes.

But during the 2001 legislative session, several bills were introduced to weaken the ability of ordinary citizens to utilize the initiative process.  
    
MontPIRG helped defeat the worst measures, but two amendments that would radically alter the State Constitution were referred to the electorate.  These measures  change the way signatures are collected in order to qualify a ballot measure. C-37 and C-38 will be voted on in November 2002.

Proponents of these measures argued that the citizen’s initiative process is flawed and abused by narrow special interests.

Opponents countered these arguments citing the fact that a wide range of political interests use the initiative process and that only 21% of proposed measures have qualified for the ballot and become law.  

If ratified, C-37 and C-38 would change the distribution of signatures needed to qualify a ballot measure.  Instead of being based on collecting a certain percentage of signatures in one-third of the state’s legislative districts, the proposed amendments would require the collection take place in half the state’s counties.  

This change in distribution will dilute the influence of the majority of citizens by equating a small county with fewer than 1,000 residents with a larger county with more than 90,000;  violating principles of equal protection.  In addition, these amendments would create large financial and logistical barriers to citizen groups working to qualify initiatives.  

These barriers will make it less likely an initiative will be citizen- based, and more likely that it will be undertaken by well-financed special interests.  

Although C-37 and C-38 have been labeled as means “to increase voter participation,” the effect would be the opposite.  By raising the bar, fewer measures will make it to the ballot, and citizens will have fewer opportunities to participate directly in the legislative process.

The initiative process is an invaluable means of checking the powers of our elected officials and involving people directly in their government.  And at a time when corporate special interests are exercising more and more control of the legislative agenda in Helena it is critical that this important check be preserved.