On May 26, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 2093. This is the new bill that imposes filing fees on candidates seeking the nomination of a party that uses conventions. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.
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On May 25, Nevada AB 126 passed the Assembly Ways & Means Committee. This is the bill to hold presidential primaries, instead of caucuses.
On May 25, the lawsuit State of Ohio v Raimondo, s.d., 3:21cv-64, was settled. The Census Bureau now says it will provide population data for redistricting by August 16. Originally the Census had said it couldn’t furnish it until September 30. Ohio had then sued.
On May 25, over 200 supporters of the Mississippi initiative process demonstrated in front of the state capitol, asking the Governor to call a special session of the legislature to pass a bill that restores the initiative process. Earlier this month, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the state constitution’s provision for a statewide initiative is void. See this story.
On May 24, the California Senate passed SB 660, which outlaws paying initiative petition circulators on a per-signature basis. The vote was 28-11. All Republicans voted against it, and two Democrats, Senators Anna Caballero and Steven Glazer, also voted against it. In the past these bills have passed with no opposition from any Democratic legislators.
The last three Governors, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown, and Gavin Newsom, have always vetoed these bills.