On May 18, California AB 421 was amended to make it less restrictive. The original bill outlawed paying initiative circulators on a per-signature basis. It also required that 10% of the needed signatures be collected by volunteers. The amended bill says that initiative circulators may be paid on a per-signature basis, if the group sponsoring the initiative agrees to collect at least 5% of the needed signatures by volunteers.
So far the bill has passed the Assembly Elections Committee, but otherwise has not advanced.
Mandating volunteer sigs should be ruled unconstitutional.
Between legislators and initiatives, I choose neither. As for the money spent on both I tend to think it has better uses. I disagree with Andreessen about Christianity, but he makes good points about quite a few other things. With apologies for the source:
https://reason.com/2023/05/28/marc-andreessen-on-artificial-intelligence-and-the-future/
PR AND SHORT TERMS = MUCH LESS NEED FOR INITS —
P-A-T
There is none.