Six North Dakota legislators have introduced HCR3011, which would make it illegal for initiative circulators to be paid. HCR 3011 also imposes a severe county distribution requirement on statewide initiatives, requiring a substantial number of signatures from each of 27 counties in the state. Here is the text of the bill.
Both aspects of the bill are unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws that make it illegal to pay circulators in 1988, in Meyer v Grant. And the U.S. Supreme Court struck down county distribution requirements for statewide petitions in 1969, in Moore v Ogilvie.
The bill also increases the number of signatures for statewide initiatives that change a statute, from 2% of the population of the state, to 3%. The six sponsors are: Representatives Al Carlson (R-Fargo), Jeff Delzer (R-Underwood), Bill Devlin (R-Finley), Dave Monson (R-Osnabrock), and Senators Tony Grindberg (R-Fargo) and David Hogue (R-Minot). Fortunately, if this bill passes, it cannot take effect unless the voters approve it.
This is the second attempt to injure initiatives. As reported earlier, the North Dakota Senate has already passed SB 2183, to require initiative circulators to have lived in North Dakota for two years. Thanks to Paul Jacob for this news.