On June 22, the California Assembly Judiciary Committee passed SB 660. It makes it illegal to pay initiative petition circulators on a per-signature basis. The bill now goes to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. It had already passed the Senate.
In the Judiciary Committee, all Democrats voted “yes” and all Republicans voted “no.”
On June 23, John McAfee died in Spain. See this story. In 2016 he had sought the Libertarian presidential nomination and had placed third at the national convention, with 131 votes. Thanks to Gene Berkman for this news.
On June 22, India Walton won the Democratic primary for Mayor of Buffalo, New York. She defeated the incumbent Mayor, Byron Brown. She is a member of Democratic Socialists of America and was endorsed by that organization. Here is her website.
The First Circuit will hear We the People v Bellows, 21-1149, on Tuesday, July 27. This is the lawsuit against Maine’s ban on out-of-state circulators for initiative petitions. The ban also says circulators must be registered voters. The U.S. District Court had struck down the law.
The New Hampshire Bulletin has this article about the New Hampshire Libertarian Party.
UPDATE: here is a much longer story in Reason Magazine.
