According to this article, California State Senate leaders will probably introduce a constitutional amendment to permit indirect initiatives. Indirect initiatives are used successfully in Massachusetts. Proponents of an initiative who successfully gather part of the needed signatures can force the legislature to examine that proposed initiative. If the legislature approves the idea, but changes it somewhat, then the proponents can either consider themselves satisfied, or if they don’t like the legislature’s proposal, they can simply finish the petition and it still goes on the ballot.

The system works well because, frequently, initiative backers make mistakes in drafting their proposal, but the indirect initiative offers a method to alter the wording.

The article says the Senate Democrats are also thinking of new ways to hamper initiatives, such as requiring that all statewide initiative petitions be circulated partially by volunteers. This idea would probably be held unconstitutional, because in 1988 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down a Colorado ban on paying circulators. That case was Meyer v Grant, 486 U.S. 414.

Joey Kennedy, a prize-winning journalist, has this op-ed in the Birmingham News, criticizing Alabama’s ballot access laws. The bill to ease these laws is expected to be introduced this week.

On February 8, the Utah legislature passed HB 262. Under current law, anyone can decide to join a party on primary day, and then vote in that party’s primary. But current law says that starting July 1, 2013, voters could no longer do this, and would have to have joined a party a month earlier. The bill eliminates the part of the current law that says the more restrictive policy would commence on July 1, 2013. Therefore, the policy that has been in place for the last several years (letting people join parties as late as primary day) will continue indefinitely.