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SB 817 - Petition circulators shall not be paid on a per signature basis or have been guilty of forgery. Currently, those who sign a false name on a petition are guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. Under the act, those who knowingly do so are guilty of a class one election offense. Petitioners shall submit a copy of the filed statement of committee organization to the Secretary of State, with the sample petition. Currently, the Secretary of State has 30 days to approve or reject the form of a petition. This act decreases that time period to 15 days. If the form of petition is approved, the circulator shall submit between 1,000 and 2,000 sponsoring signatures to the Secretary of State within 45 days of approval. The Secretary of State shall send the signatures to the election authorities for verification within 5 days to be verified by the election authorities within 15 days. If the sponsoring signatures are verified, the Secretary of State shall notify the circulator and accept public comment regarding the proposed measure. The Secretary has 23 days from certification of the sponsoring signatures to prepare the summary statement. After the sponsoring signatures are verified, the circulator is then authorized to collect signatures in the amount required under current law to have the provision placed on the ballot. Within 30 days of certification that the circulator has the required signatures to have the provision placed on the ballot, the Joint Committee on Legislative Research shall hold an informational public hearing to take public testimony of those in support of and in opposition to the position. The provision requiring the Joint Committee on Legislative Research to conduct a public hearing carries an emergency clause. CHRIS HOGERTY
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