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SCS/SB 22 - This act provides that if the General Assembly adopts a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment or statutory measure to be referred to the people that includes an official summary statement, the statement shall appear on the ballot, and no court shall have the authority to rewrite or edit the summary statement. If such summary statement is challenged in court and the court finds the summary statement to be legally flawed, the summary statement shall only be rewritten by the Secretary of State, unless the General Assembly, by passage of a concurrent resolution, passes a new summary statement prior to 8 weeks before the election. This provision is substantially similar to SB 1076 (2024), SB 463 (2023), HB 391 (2023), provisions in HCS/SS/SB 812 (2022), HCS/HB 1608 (2022), SB 399 (2021), and the perfected HB 850 (2021). The act also stipulates that, in any action challenging the summary statement of an initiative petition, a court shall order the Secretary of State to write a new summary statement if the court finds the initial summary statement to be unfair or insufficient. Furthermore, the act increases the total word limitation on summary statements for ballot measures proposed by the General Assembly from 50 words to 100 words. SCOTT SVAGERA
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