On February 16, the Arizona House Government committee passed HB 2404, which severely restricts paid initiative circulators. It would require sponsors of initiatives to post a $50,000 bond, if the sponsors are using paid circulators. It would require circulators to register and pay a fee. The bill does not set the fee, but says the Secretary of State would set it. Paid circulators would need to provide a copy of a criminal background check, and take a training class. It would be illegal for circulators to be paid on a per-signature basis.

Laws to outlaw paying on a per signature basis have been struck down in Ohio and Colorado. Also it is likely that requiring a circulator to pay a registration fee violates the First Amendment.

The vote in committee was 5-3. The sponsor is Representative Vincent Leach (R-SaddleBrooke).

West Virginia Senator Jeff “Bubblegum” Mullins has introduced SB 33. It moves all West Virginia primaries from May to the 2nd Friday in February, in midterm years as well as presidential years.

Currently, congressional primaries range from March to September. No state has a February primary for Congress.

Political scientists Boris Shor and Nolan McCarty regularly track polarization in each state’s legislature. Their latest data, from legislative sessions of 2015-2016, shows that California continues to have the nation’s most polarized legislature. See the results here for each state. Washington, the other top-two state, has the nation’s fifth most polarized legislature. Thanks to Rob Richie for the link.