California law includes a ban on public funding for campaigns, either by the state, or by any local government. The ban exists because of an initiative that the voters passed some years ago.

State Senator Tom Umberg (D-Villa Park) has introduced SB 24, which would make repeal of that prohibition possible. If the bill passes, the voters would be asked to vote on repealing the ban. In California, when an initiative passes, the legislature cannot later change that initiative without another vote of the people, unless the original initiative itself authorized the legislature to change it without another popular vote.

On March 23, Mississippi SCR 533 was killed in the legislature. This is the proposal to restore the statewide initiative in Mississippi. The Senate had passed it with a requirement that a petition be signed by 12% of the number of registered voters. Then the House amended it to 12% of the last gubernatorial vote. The Senate response was simply to ignore the bill, and it is now too late for it to pass.

This is the second year in a row in which the Mississippi legislature has failed to restore the initiative. The State Supreme Court had invalidated it a few years ago because they said it was flawed. It said signtures were needed from each of Mississippi’s five U.S. House districts, but then some years later, Mississippi lost one of its U.S. House seats because the Census showed its population growth had not kept up with the national average.

On March 9, the Oklahoma Senate unanimously passed SB 375. It moves the date of the non-presidential primary from the last Tuesday in June to the third Tuesday in June. Assuming it becomes law, it would also automatically move the declaration of candidacy deadline for non-presidential independent candidates a week earlier. In Oklahoma, non-presidential independent candidates don’t need a petition; they just file a declaration of candidacy and a filing fee.

SB 375 does not change the petition deadline for newly-qualifying parties, which would continue to be March 1.