On March 22, the Arizona Senate passed HB 2404, which outlaws paying initiative and referendum petition circulators on a per-signature basis. The bill had passed the House on February 23, but the Senate version is different, so the bill must return to the House.
The bill does not make any allowance for paying a bonus for high production. That alone will make the bill tough to defend in court, assuming it is signed into law. Thanks to ElectionLine for this news. The vote in the Senate was 17-13. Democrats oppose the bill. It seems conceivable that there will be a referendum petition against the bill if it is signed into law.
Could you pay circulators per signature for collecting signatures for a referendum petition against this bill?
“Could you pay circulators per signature for collecting signatures for a referendum petition against this bill?”
I would think so, since a referendum would suspend the bill before it goes into effect, thus leaving it up to a vote of the people as to whether or not they want to accept it, or reject it.
This is a terrible bill that will make it more difficult to qualify issues for the ballot in Arizona, so hopefully it will not pass.