S423

SENATE, No. 423

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED JANUARY 18, 1996

By Senator LaROSSA

An Act providing for the establishment of an initiative procedure in this State, providing certain penalties in regard thereto, amending P.L.1973, c.83 and supplementing Title 19 of the Revised Statues.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. (New section) This act shall be known as and may be cited as the "Citizens' Initiative Act."

2. (New section) The Legislature finds and declares:

a. It is in the best interests of the citizens of this State to provide for greater public access to government and for strengthening popular sovereignty, while maintaining the institutions of a representative democracy;

b. Clearly there is a need for the ability to change and reform the government of this State by submission to the Legislature of proposals for changes in current law and constitutional amendments;

c. Yet such changes must be made in a way which places ultimate political power in the hands of the people and their duly elected representatives and not in the hands of narrow-minded and well-financed special interest groups which may act to thwart the popular interest.

3. (New section) As used in this act:

"Initiative" means the power reserved by the people to submit constitutional amendments, laws and the repeal of existing laws, or sections or parts thereof, to the Legislature.

"Petition" means a formal written proposal emanating from the people to submit a proposed law or constitutional amendment, or the proposed repeal of an existing law, or sections or parts thereof, to the Legislature.

4. (New section) There shall be no restrictions as to subject matter on the laws, the constitutional amendments or the repeal of existing laws, or sections or parts thereof, proposed by an initiative, except that each proposal shall embrace but one object and that shall be expressed in the title of a proposed law or constitutional amendment and in any title prepared under this act for inclusion in a petition or a bill or resolution before the Legislature.

5. (New section) a. An initiative question shall be proposed by a petition certified for circulation as provided by this section and meeting the requirements of section 9 and all other provisions of this act. Persons wishing to obtain certification of an initiative petition for circulation shall prepare a preliminary text of the proposed constitutional amendment or law, and shall transmit the same to the Secretary of State, indicating the name and address of a designated correspondent to whom a response may be sent. Persons who intend that an existing law be repealed and wish to obtain certification of an initiative petition to make the continuance of that law the subject of a bill submitted to the Legislature shall transmit a copy of that law and a statement of their intent to the Secretary of State, likewise indicating the name and address of a designated correspondent.

b. Within five business days of receiving the preliminary text of the proposed constitutional amendment or law, or text of an existing law, from the persons wishing to circulate a petition, the Secretary of State shall prepare and send to the designated correspondent a form of the signature page to be used in obtaining signatures to a request for certification of the petition proposed for circulation. Each signature page of the request shall bear the title "REQUEST FOR CERTIFICATION OF PROPOSED PETITION." Immediately below that title shall be printed a statement that the undersigned request that the proposed petition accompanying that signature page, or a petition to substantially the same effect, shall be certified for circulation among registered voters of this State for their signatures. The signature page shall contain space for the entry of the names of the members of the committee designated pursuant to the provisions of subsection c. of this section, below which space shall be printed a statement that the members so designated assent to that designation and swear or affirm that they will uphold the constitution and laws of the United States and of this State. The page shall also contain a form of affidavit providing that signatories to that page are registered voters of New Jersey, have read the preliminary text of the law or constitutional amendment proposed by an initiative petition, or the text of the existing law whose continuance is the subject of an initiative petition, which they are requesting be certified, and assent to the designation of the persons whose names shall have been entered as provided by subsection c. of this section as members of the committee. The affidavit shall briefly indicate the powers and duties of the committee under this act and as otherwise provided by law. Space shall be provided for the entry by each signatory to the signature page of the address from which he is registered as a voter and the county where that address is located.

c. The person or persons favoring certification of the petition shall designate up to 15 persons who are registered voters to be members of a committee which shall be authorized: (1) to determine the final form of the law, constitutional amendment, or repeal of an existing law which is to be proposed by the initiative petition; and (2) to undertake such other responsibilities and duties as may be provided by law.

Upon receipt by the designated correspondent from the Secretary of State of the form of signature page to be used for the request for certification of the petition proposed for circulation, the names of the members of the committee shall be entered in the space provided on each signature page for those names, and a copy of the proposed petition shall be prepared. A proposed initiative petition for a proposed law or constitutional amendment shall have substantially the following form:

PROPOSED INITIATIVE PETITION

It is hereby proposed to submit to the Legislature the (constitutional amendment) (law) set forth in full preliminary text below.

(Preliminary text of the proposed constitutional amendment or law)

A proposed initiative petition to repeal an existing law, or sections or parts thereof, shall have substantially the following form:

PROPOSED INITIATIVE PETITION

It is hereby proposed to submit to the Legislature the repeal of the (law(s)) (section(s) or part(s) of the law(s)) set forth in full below.

(Text of the law, or sections or parts thereof, to be repealed)

Persons seeking certification of the proposed petition shall file with the Secretary of State multiple copies of the form of signature page containing the names of the designated members of the committee and multiple copies of the proposed petition. The Secretary of State shall retain one copy of the signature page form and one copy of the proposed petition. The Secretary of State shall then create, as the designated correspondent may request, up to 150 sets of completed proposed petition request forms consisting of one or more copies of the signature page form attached to a single copy of the proposed petition, and shall return those sets to the designated correspondent.

Each proposed petition request form so completed and returned may be circulated for the signatures of registered voters of this State.

d. When request forms, completed as prescribed in subsection c. of this section, have been signed by 500 persons who are registered voters of this State and who have indicated their respective addresses for voter registration purposes and their respective counties of registration, those request forms shall at one time be submitted to the Secretary of State. In addition, a valid statement signed by a member of the Legislature that the member will serve as the legislative sponsor of that particular initiative petition shall be submitted to the Secretary of State along with the request forms.

The Secretary of State shall (1) not later than the 20th day following that submission verify (a) that the content of each proposed petition request form submitted has not been altered, except by the entry of signatories' signatures and their address and county of registration as voters, from that content as previously filed, and (b) in conjunction with the commissioners of registration and the county boards of elections of the several counties, that a sufficient number of the signatures to the proposed petition request form are valid; (2) inform the legislator named as legislative sponsor in the statement accompanying the request forms of the receipt of the statement; and (3) not later than the third day following a determination, upon completion of the verification of signatures, that a sufficient number thereof are valid, forward to the Office of Legislative Services, a copy of the preliminary text of the proposed law or constitutional amendment or, in the case of the repeal of a law proposed by initiative petition, a copy of the existing law whose continuance is to be the subject of a bill submitted to the Legislature, and a copy of the statement with the name of the legislative sponsor.

Upon receipt from the secretary of the preliminary text of a proposed law or constitutional amendment, the Office of Legislative Services shall review that text for compliance with the technical requirements generally applicable to the form and style of constitutional amendments and laws. Upon receipt from the secretary of a copy of an existing law whose continuance is to be the subject of a bill to be submitted to the Legislature, the Office of Legislative Services shall assess the relation of that law to other laws of this State and of the effect upon the operation of those other laws of the repeal of the law. On or before the 60th day following receipt of the preliminary text or copy of the law, the Office of Legislative Services shall return to the designated correspondent a written statement of any suggestions it deems appropriate regarding such compliance or relation, including the suggestion that no change be made in the text of the proposed constitutional amendment or law, or list of laws whose continuance is sought to be made the subject of a bill to be submitted to the Legislature, together with an explanation of those suggestions. In the case of a proposed law, the statement shall include appropriate observations concerning the compatibility thereof with the constitutions of the United States and of the State. In the case of a proposed amendment to the Constitution of this State the statement shall include such observations with respect to the Constitution of the United States. The Office of Legislative Services shall, on the day on which it returns the statement, file copies thereof, together with a copy of the preliminary text of the proposed constitutional amendment or law, or text of the existing law whose continuance is to be included in a bill for submission to the Legislature, with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the General Assembly.

e. Following receipt by the designated correspondent from the Office of Legislative Services of the results of its review or assessment of a proposed constitutional amendment or law or of a proposed vote by the Legislature to repeal a law, the committee appointed under subsection c. of this section to bear responsibility thereunder in connection with an initiative petition may, by majority vote of all of the members, revise the text of the constitutional amendment or law to be proposed by an initiative petition, or revise the list of laws, or sections or parts thereof, the continuance of which is to be included in a bill to be submitted to the Legislature. Any revision properly adopted hereunder by the committee shall be final and shall not be subject to challenge or review. The committee shall file with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the General Assembly a copy of the final text, agreed to and signed by a two-thirds majority of its members, of the proposed constitutional amendment or law, or a copy of the final list, agreed to and signed by a two-thirds majority of its members, of any law, or section or part thereof, the continuance of which is to be included in a bill to be submitted to the Legislature. If no such signed final text or list is filed within 60 days of the filing by the Office of Legislative Services with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the General Assembly of the statement of suggestions, the proposed petition shall be deemed to have been withdrawn, and no further action shall be taken thereon.

f. Upon timely receipt of a final text or final list under subsection e. of this section, the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the General Assembly shall forthwith send a copy thereof to the Office of Legislative Services, which shall, on or before the 30th day following receipt of that copy, prepare and send to the Secretary of Senate and the Clerk of the General Assembly a copy of a title and text of the bill or resolution concerning the enactment or adoption of the proposed law or constitutional amendment, respectively, or the continuance of the existing law, which is to be submitted to the Legislature, together with a brief interpretive statement of the substance of that proposed law or constitutional amendment, or of the repeal of the existing law, which clearly identifies how approval of that law or constitutional amendment, or repeal of the existing law, would alter the laws or Constitution of this State. The form of the bill or resolution shall be the same as is applicable in the case of other bills and resolutions introduced in the Legislature and shall provide that (1) in the case of a constitutional amendment proposed by initiative petition, the form of the proposed question shall identify a calendar date, or an ordinal number of days, following the general election at which it is submitted to the voters, as of which the proposed constitutional amendment would take effect; (2) in the case of a law proposed by an initiative petition, the calendar date or the ordinal number of days following enactment as of which the proposed law would take effect; and (3) in the case of a law whose continuance is the subject of an initiative petition, the calendar date or the ordinal number of days following enactment as of which the proposed repeal of that law would take effect.

g. Upon receipt of the final text or final list under subsection e. of this section, the Secretary of State shall prepare a form of petition. It shall consist of a signature page, which shall comply with the provisions of section 7 of this act, and the petition text, the form of which shall be identical to that prescribed for the text of the proposed initiative petition of subsection c. of this section, except that the word "PROPOSED" shall in either case be deleted from the heading thereof, and in the case of an initiative petition, the word "preliminary" shall for all purposes be replaced by the word "final". On or before the fifth day following the receipt of the final text or final list, the Secretary of State shall certify to the designated correspondent a copy of the form of petition which may be circulated and the number of signatures which shall be required under section 9 of this act in order for the proposed law or constitutional amendment, or proposed repeal of a law or laws, to be introduced in the Legislature, accompanying the same with a summary of the provisions of this act concerning the circulation, signing and return of petitions, the reporting of contributions and expenditures and address and telephone number of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, crimes under this act and the penalties associated therewith, and any other provisions and particulars which the secretary deems appropriate to include in the summary.

h. Persons circulating the petitions shall have six months from the date of certification of the petition for circulation under subsection g. hereof to collect the number of signatures required under section 9 of this act.

6. (New section) Upon certification of the petition, the Secretary of State shall give notice of that certification to the Office of Legislative Services, which shall conduct a study of, and shall prepare and make available to the public a statement on, the fiscal impact and feasibility of each proposed law, constitutional amendment, or the continuance of an existing law no later than 60 days after the receipt of the certification from the Secretary of State. The statement on the fiscal impact and feasibility of each proposed bill or resolution shall be written in a simple, clear, understandable and easily readable way. A copy of the statement shall be made available to any officer, office or commission of this State which is, or hereafter becomes, responsible for printing and distributing all or any part of such a statement to the public.

7. (New section) Each signature page of an initiative petition shall set forth the title, text and interpretive statement prepared by the Office of Legislative Services under subsection f. of section 5 of this act, the names of the members of the committee designated pursuant to the provisions of subsection c. of section 5 of this act, and the name of the legislative sponsor of the petition pursuant to the provisions of subsection d. of section 5 of this act, and shall state that the petitioners affirm that they are registered voters of this State and assent to the designation of those named individuals to be members of that committee for the purposes of this "Citizens' Initiative Act."

Space shall be provided on each such signature page for the entry by each signatory of his signature and the address from which he is registered as a voter. At the bottom of each signature page, there shall be printed the following: "This page shall be signed by registered voters of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(NAME OF COUNTY)

COUNTY only." The name of the county shall be indicated in boldface capital lettering.

8. (New section) The Secretary of State shall specify the form and kind and size of paper on which initiative petitions shall be printed for circulation for signatures. The committee designated pursuant to the provisions of subsection c. of section 5 of this act may cause copies of the petition to be printed and circulated in the several counties of the State for the signatures of registered voters of this State. Signature pages of the petition may be attached together for the convenience of the persons circulating the same, but there shall be attached to every page or set of pages being circulated a copy of the petition in the form prescribed by this act, including the full text of the proposed law or constitutional amendment or of the existing law whose continuance is to be the subject of submission to the Legislature.

A signature of a petitioner to a signature page shall be valid for the purposes of meeting the requirements of section 9 of this act only if the petitioner is a registered voter in the county, the name of which is printed at the bottom of that page as provided under section 7 of this act, and only one valid signature of a registered voter shall be counted for the purpose of meeting those requirements. However, if the signature of a petitioner is invalid under this section or under any other provision of this act, that invalidity shall not be construed thereby to invalidate any other signature to the initiative petition under this act.

9. (New section) a. The number of signatures required upon an initiative petition proposing a constitutional amendment to be submitted to the Legislature shall be equal to at least 12% of the number of votes cast for the office of Governor in New Jersey in the gubernatorial election preceding certification of the petition for circulation, provided that the petition signatures shall include signatures from at least two-thirds of the counties of the State equal in number to at least 12% of the total number of votes cast for the Office of Governor in each of those counties in that gubernatorial election.

b. The number of signatures required upon an initiative petition proposing a law or the repeal of a law for submission to the Legislature shall be equal to at least 8% of the number of votes cast for the office of Governor in New Jersey in the gubernatorial election preceding certification of the petition for circulation, provided that the petition signatures shall include signatures from at least two-thirds of the counties of the State equal in number to at least 8% of the total number of votes cast for the Office of Governor in each of those counties in that gubernatorial election.

c. The number of signatures required upon an initiative petition proposing a constitutional amendment or a law or the repeal of a law which has been defeated by either a vote of the Senate or General Assembly or by veto of the Governor during a biennial session of the Legislature and is re-submitted to the Legislature during its next succeeding biennial session shall equal 50 percent of the signatures required to submit the original initiative petition to the Legislature, pursuant to subsections a. or b. of this section, as the case may be.

The number of signatures required upon an initiative petition proposing a constitutional amendment or a law or the repeal of a law which has been defeated by either a vote of the Senate or General Assembly or by veto of the Governor during a biennial session of the Legislature and is re-submitted to the Legislature during the biennial session following the next succeeding session of the Legislature and any subsequent session shall equal the total number of signatures required from each county to submit the original initiative petition to the Legislature, pursuant to subsections a. or b. of this section, as the case may be.

10. (New section) a. Each signature page of the completed petition shall have attached thereto the declaration of the person soliciting the signatures stating:

(1) the printed name of the circulator;

(2) the residence address of the circulator, giving street and number, or if no street or number exists, adequate designation of residence so that the location may readily be ascertained;

(3) the circulator is a registered voter of the State;

(4) the circulator circulated the page of the petition and saw the appended signatures being written;

(5) that to the best information and belief of the circulator, each signature is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be; and

(6) that the circulator gave no thing of value in connection with the solicitation of signatures on the petition.

The circulator shall certify to the content of the declaration as to its truth and correctness, under penalty of perjury, with the signature of his or her name at length, including given name, middle name or initial. The circulator shall state the date and the place of execution on the declaration immediately following his or her signature.

No other declaration thereto shall be required.

b. Initiative petitions in apparent conformity with the provisions of this act may be filed with the Secretary of State.

c. All copies of a petition to submit a proposed law, constitutional amendment, or repeal of a law to the Legislature shall be filed at the same time and shall be accompanied by a statement, signed by a majority of the members of the committee designated under the provisions of subsection c. of section 5 of this act, that the filing constitutes the final filing of the petition.

11. (New section) Within five business days after a petition is filed, the Secretary of State shall determine the total number of signatures, accompanied by addresses, appearing on all filed copies of the petition. If the total number of signatures is less than 100% of the number required by section 9 of this act, the Secretary of State shall notify the members of the committee designated under subsection c. of section 5 of this act that the petition is invalid and void. If the total number of those signatures is equal to or exceeds 100% of the number required, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with superintendents of election and county boards of election of the several counties, shall have 45 business days to verify the signatures.

The validity of signatures as signatures of a sufficient number of registered voters under section 9 of this act shall, in the first instance, be verified by random sample. The Secretary of State shall design and promulgate, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules establishing a random sampling procedure, with rules of decision on the basis of which it may be determined that the number of valid signatures in the sample indicates that the number of valid signatures to all copies of the petitions submitted is sufficient or insufficient to qualify the petition for submission to the Legislature. In designing the procedure and decision rules, the Secretary shall employ the theory, assumptions and methods of standard statistical analysis.

In performing random sample verification under this section, the Secretary of State shall randomly select from the total number of signatures filed a 10% sample, which shall be drawn in a manner to insure that every signature shall have an equal chance of being included in the sample. The verification of the validity of signatures shall be performed against county registration records. The secretary shall then determine the number of valid signatures in the sample.

If the number of sampled signatures determined to be valid indicates, under the rules of decision established as hereinabove provided, that it cannot be statistically determined whether the number of valid signatures to all copies of the petition is either sufficient or insufficient to qualify the petition for submission to the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall verify all signatures to that petition.

The State shall bear the expense of effectuating the requirement of this section.

12. (New section) During the 30-day period following the date upon which signatures to a petition are verified under section 11 of this act, a registered voter of this State may file a complaint in Superior court for the county in which the voter is registered, setting forth therein any defect of the petition under this act or under the Constitution of this State. The complaint shall be heard in a summary way, and any order may be made upon that hearing as the court shall deem appropriate, provided that, if a petition, or any affidavit thereto, is technically defective, any member of the committee designated pursuant to the provisions of subsection c. of section 5 of this act may cause the petition or the affidavit thereto to be amended in matters of form as may be necessary to correct the defect, but not to add signatures, or the amendment may be made by filing a new or substitute petition or affidavit and when so amended shall be of the same effect as if originally filed in the amended form; but every amendment shall be made within 30 days after the day on which the complaint, alleging the defect sought to be corrected, was initially filed. This provision shall be liberally construed to protect the interest of persons circulating or signing initiative petitions.

13. (New section) No law, amendment to the Constitution of this State, or repeal of an existing law, or section or part thereof, submitted to the Legislature by initiative petition pursuant to the provisions of this act and receiving an affirmative majority of the votes cast thereon, shall be held unconstitutional or void on account of the insufficient number of signatures on the petition by which the submission of the same was procured.

14. (New section) The filing of an initiative or a referendum petition pursuant to the provisions of this act with respect to any law, or section or part thereof, shall in no way affect the effective date or the implementation of the law.

15. (New section) Not later than the fifth day following verification of petition signatures, the Secretary of State shall certify to a member of the committee designated pursuant to the provisions of subsection c. of section 5 of this act, the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the General Assembly, and the legislative sponsor of the petition that the petition has or has not qualified the proposed law, constitutional amendment, or repeal of a law for submission to the Legislature.

The procedure for the subsequent consideration thereof by the Legislature shall be pursuant to the joint rules of the Senate and the General Assembly.

16. (New section) Nothing in this act shall abridge the right of a committee designated pursuant to subsection c. of section 5 of this act which submitted to the Legislature a constitutional amendment, law or repeal of a law that was defeated during one biennial session of the Legislature to propose the same or a modified version of that constitutional amendment, law or repeal of a law in the succeeding or any subsequent biennial sessions of the Legislature, provided the committee follow the procedures for submitting such measures to the Legislature set forth in sections 5 through 15 of this act.

17. (New section) A person is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree if he purposely:

a. pays another person, or requires another person as a term or condition of employment, to sign a petition;

b. accepts payment for signing a petition; or

c. violates any other provision of this act.

18. (New section) a. Any person or group of persons acting jointly, or any corporation, partnership, or other incorporated or unincorporated association, which: (1) is organized to, or does, aid or promote (a) an effort to obtain certification of an initiative petition, (b) the circulation of such a petition, or (c) the passage or defeat by either house of the Legislature or the Governor, as is appropriate, of a law, repeal of a law or a constitutional amendment introduced in the Legislature as a result of an initiative petition, and (2) has expended $2,500 or more with respect to such aid or promotion, shall make a full cumulative report, upon a form prescribed by the Election Law Enforcement Commission, of all contributions in the form of moneys, loans, paid personal services, or other things of value made to that person, group, corporation, partnership, or association and all expenditures made, incurred, or authorized by that person, group, corporation, partnership, or association during the period ending 48 hours preceding the date of the report and beginning on the date on which the first of those contributions was received or the first of those expenditures was made, whichever occurred first. The report shall be filed with the Election Law Enforcement Commission on the first day of each month, except for the month of an election, in the case of a public question that appears on the ballot at that election as a result of an initiative proposal, the report shall be filed on the 10th day preceding that election. The report shall contain the name and mailing address of each person or group from whom moneys, loans, paid personal services, or other things of value were contributed during the period and the amount contributed by each individual or other entity, and where the contributor is an individual, the report shall indicate the occupation and the job title of the individual and the name and mailing address of the individual's employer, and shall also contain the name and address of each person, firm, or organization to whom or which expenditures have been paid during that period and the amount and purpose of each such expenditure. In the case of any loan reported pursuant to this section, the report shall further contain the name and mailing address of each person who co-signs such loan, and where an individual has co-signed each loan, the report shall indicate the occupation and the job title of the individual and the name and mailing address of the individual's employer. If no moneys, loans, paid personal services, or other thing of value were contributed, the report shall so indicate, and if no expenditures were paid or incurred, the report shall likewise so indicate.

b. In any report filed pursuant to the provisions of subsection a., the individual or entity reporting may exclude from the report the names and addresses of contributors whose contributions during the period covered by the report did not exceed $100.00, provided, however, that (1) such exclusion is unlawful if any person responsible for the preparation or filing of the report knew that it was made with respect to any individual or entity whose contributions relating to the same initiative petition and made to the reporting individual or entity, in combination with the contribution in respect of which such exclusion is made, are more than $100.00 in aggregate and (2) any person who knowingly prepares, assists in preparing, files or acquiesces in the filing of any report from which the identification of a contributor has been excluded contrary to the provisions of this subsection is subject to the provisions of section 17 of this act, but (3) nothing in this proviso shall be construed as requiring any individual or entity reporting pursuant to this act to report the amounts, dates or other circumstantial data regarding contributions made to any other individual or entity.

c. The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission shall promulgate, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), the rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section.

19. (New section) a. Any group of persons acting jointly, corporation, partnership, or other incorporated or unincorporated association which is subject to subsection a. of section 17 of this act shall submit to the commission a statement of registration which includes:

(1) the complete name or identifying title of the group or entity, which name or title shall accurately reflect the political interests, objectives and composition of the group or entity and shall not distort, misrepresent or be misleading as to the true nature of the group's or entity's composition, interests, objectives, or financial supporters;

(2) the mailing address of the entity and the name and residence address of a resident of this State who shall have been designated by the entity as its agent to accept service of process or, in the case of a group of persons, the name and mailing address of each person in the group, one of whom shall be designated as its agent to accept service of process;

(3) a descriptive statement prepared by the organizers or officers of the group or entity that identifies (a) the names and mailing addresses of the persons having control over the affairs of the group or entity, including but not limited to persons in whose name or at whose direction or suggestion the entity solicits funds and persons participating in any decision to expend such funds; (b) the name and mailing address of any person not included among the persons identified under subparagraph (a) of this paragraph who, directly or through an agent, participated in the initial organization of the group or entity; (c) in the case of any person identified under subparagraph (a) or subparagraph (b) who is an individual, the occupation of that individual, the individual's home address, and the name and mailing address of the individual's employer, or, in the case of any such person which is a corporation, partnership, unincorporated association, or other organization, the name and mailing address of the organization; and (d) any other information which the Election Law Enforcement Commission may, under such regulations as it shall adopt pursuant to the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), require as being material to the fullest possible disclosure of the economic, political and other particular interests and objectives which the group or entity has been organized to or does advance; and

(4) in the case of a corporation or association, a statement by shareholders or members authorizing expenditures to aid or promote (a) an effort to obtain certification of an initiative petition, (b) the circulation of such a petition, or (c) the passage or defeat of a constitutional amendment placed upon the ballot as a result of such a petition. The commission shall be informed, in writing, of any change in the membership of the group or entity within three days of the occurrence of the change.

b. After submission of a statement of registration by the commission pursuant to this section, the group or entity shall use the complete name or identifying title on all documents submitted to the commission, in all solicitations for contributions and in all paid media advertisements purchased or paid for by the group or entity in support of or in opposition to an initiative petition.

c. Each report of contributions by a group or entity shall include, in the case of each contributor who is an individual, the home address of the individual if different from the individual's mailing address, or, in the case of any contributor which is an organization, any information, in addition to that otherwise required, which the Election Law Enforcement Commission may, under such regulations as it shall adopt pursuant to the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), require as being material to the fullest possible disclosure of the economic, political and other particular interests and objectives which the contributing organization has been organized to or does advance.

d. Any group or entity may at any time apply to the commission for approval of an abbreviation or acronym of its complete, official name or title for its exclusive use on documents which it shall submit to the commission. Upon verification that the abbreviation or acronym has not been approved for such use by any other group or entity, the commission shall approve the abbreviation or acronym for such use by the applicant group or entity, and the entity, and any group or entity which, under the provisions of P.L.1973, c.83 (C.19:44A-1 et seq.), submits any documents to the commission containing a reference to that group or entity shall thereafter use that approved abbreviation or acronym in documents submitted to the commission. The commission shall, during its regular office hours, maintain for public inspection in its offices a current alphabetically arranged list of all such approved abbreviations and acronyms, indicating for each the name of the group or entity for which it stands, and shall make copies of the list available upon request.

20. (New section) No individual, group, partnership, corporation or association, by print, radio, television or other medium of communication, shall publish or distribute, or cause or pay for the publication or distribution of, any statement or other communication in support of or opposition to an effort to obtain certification of an initiative petition or the circulation of such a petition or the passage or defeat of a constitutional amendment placed upon the ballot as a result of such a petition, unless that statement or other communication discloses, in the case of an individual, the name and address of the individual, and in the case of an entity which is a group, partnership, corporation or association, the official name and address of the entity, and if the entity includes among its members, partners or shareholders, as appropriate, or among those individuals, groups, partnerships, corporations or associations contributing $1,000.00 or more to the entity during the current or preceding calendar year, two or more individuals or entities commonly understood to be employed in or members of the same industry or other identifiable grouping, the entity shall include in that disclosure with its official name a term identifying that industry or grouping. If an entity required under paragraph (2) of subsection b. of section 18 of this act to make a report to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission is also required to report with its official name one or more terms identifying such an industry or grouping, the same term or terms shall be used for the purposes of this section.

21. (New section) The Secretary of State shall promulgate the rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of sections 1 through 16 of this act.

22. Section 4 of P.L.1973, c.83 (C.19:44A-4) is amended to read as follows:

4. The provisions of this act shall apply:

a. (Deleted by amendment; P.L.1981, c.151.)

b. (Deleted by amendment; P.L.1983, c.579).

c. In any election at which a public question is to be voted upon by the voters of the State or any political subdivision thereof;

d. In any election for any public office of the State or any political subdivision thereof; provided, however, that this act shall not, except for paragraph (2) of subsection a. of section 8 of the act (C.19:44A-8), apply to elections for party office.

e. In any effort to obtain certification of an initiative petition, the circulation of such a petition, or the passage or defeat by either house of the Legislature or the Governor, as is appropriate, of a law, the repeal of a law or a constitutional amendment introduced in the Legislature as a result of an initiative petition.

(cf: P.L.1983, c.579, s.8)

23. This act shall take effect on January 1st following enactment and shall expire upon the enactment of a substantially similar constitutional amendment.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes an initiative procedure for submitting constitutional amendments, laws and the repeal of laws to the Legislature for its consideration.

Under the bill an initiative question can be submitted to the Legislature by petition. Persons wishing to circulate an initiative petition proposing a constitutional amendment or other new law must first prepare and submit to the Secretary of State a preliminary draft of the text thereof; those who, with the intention that an existing law be repealed, seek to circulate an initiative petition to submit a bill to the Legislature regarding the continuance of the law must send to the Secretary a copy of that existing law and a statement of their intention. Upon receipt of this initial submission, the Secretary would send to the petitioners a form of the signature page to be used in gathering signatures to their request for certification of their proposed petition.

The petitioners must select a steering committee of up to 15 members. Upon receipt from the Secretary of State of the signature page form, the petitioners must enter the names of the committee; they also prepare a copy of a proposal petition form in accordance with guidelines established in this bill. They then file multiple copies of both the signature page and proposed petition form with the Secretary of State, who thereupon creates up to 150 sets of a completed "proposed petition requests form," consisting of a single copy of the proposed petition form and one or more copies of the signature page form. The Secretary returns these to the correspondent for circulation. When signed by at least 500 registered voters and ready to be returned to the Secretary of State, the request forms are returned at one time to the Secretary of State, who then verifies the signatures and, if a sufficient number of valid signatures have been gathered and if a valid statement signed by the legislative sponsor of the petition has been submitted, sends a copy of the preliminary version of the proposed constitutional amendment, law or repeal of a law to the Office of Legislative Services.

The Office of Legislative Services then reviews the proposals for technical compliance with standard requirements applicable to constitutional amendments and laws or, in the case of the repeal of an existing law, an assessment of the effect of the repeal upon other existing laws. On the basis of the review, the office sends any appropriate suggestions to the petition sponsors, whose committee then has a set period of time to adopt and file with the Secretary of State a final version of the content of their petition. The Secretary of State then submits a copy of the final version of the petition contents to the Office of Legislative Services, which prepares a title, text and interpretive statement of the initiative question as it would appear in either resolution or bill form and returns the same to the Secretary of State. The Secretary then prepares a form of petition for general circulation, using the title, text and statement prepared by the Office of Legislative Services. The petition sponsors may then print copies of this petition and circulate them; they are allowed six months to collect the number of signatures required, namely, a number in the State equal to at least 12% of the number of votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election in each of two-thirds of the counties in the State in the case of a proposed constitutional amendment and at least 8% of that number of voters in each of two-thirds of the counties in the State in the case of any other initiative.

The petitions are returned to the Secretary for verification. If a sufficient number of valid signatures has been collected, the Secretary submits the proposal to the Legislature. The procedure for the subsequent consideration of a constitutional amendment, law or repeal of a law by the Legislature will be pursuant to the joint rules of the Senate and General Assembly.

Any person or group expending $2,500 or more to circulate an initiative petition or to promote passage or defeat of a proposal by either house thereof or the Governor, shall file periodic reports with the Election Law Enforcement Commission on contributions received and expenditures made. Any such group shall likewise register with the Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Establishes an initiative procedure for the State.