Indiana 2024 Regular Session

Indiana House Bill HJR0001 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	HJ9201
2	2	Introduced Version
3	3	HOUSE JOINT
4	4	RESOLUTION No. _____
5	5	_____
6	6	DIGEST OF INTRODUCED RESOL UTION
7	7	Citations Affected: Article 4 of the Constitution of the State of
8	8	Indiana.
9	9	Synopsis: Ballot initiatives. Provides that the people of Indiana may
10	10	propose and adopt amendments to the Constitution of the State of
11	11	Indiana and propose and enact statutes independent of the general
12	12	assembly through initiative. Provides that the people of Indiana may
13	13	approve or reject through referendum any statute or part of any statute
14	14	enacted by the general assembly. This proposed amendment has not
15	15	been previously agreed to by a general assembly.
16	16	Effective: This proposed amendment must be agreed to by two
17	17	consecutive general assemblies and ratified by a majority of the state's
18	18	voters voting on the question to be effective.
19	19	Errington
20	20	_______________________, read first time and referred to Committee on
21	21	20241319
22	22	2024 HJ 9201/DI 149 Introduced
23	23	Second Regular Session of the 123rd General Assembly (2024)
24	24	PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
25	25	Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
26	26	additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
27	27	Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
28	28	provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the word
29	29	NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds a
30	30	new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
31	31	Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
32	32	between statutes enacted by the 2023 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
33	33	HOUSE JOINT
34	34	RESOLUTION
35	35	A JOINT RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to Article 4 of
36	36	the Constitution of the State of Indiana concerning elections.
37	37	Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
38	38	1 SECTION 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of the
39	39	2 State of Indiana is proposed and agreed to by this, the One Hundred
40	40	3 Twenty-Third General Assembly of the State of Indiana, and is referred
41	41	4 to the next General Assembly for reconsideration and agreement.
42	42	5 SECTION 2. ARTICLE 4, SECTION 1 OF THE CONSTITUTION
43	43	6 OF THE STATE OF INDIANA IS AMENDED TO READ AS
44	44	7 FOLLOWS: Section 1. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this
45	45	8 Constitution, the Legislative authority of the State shall be vested in
46	46	9 a General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of
47	47	10 Representatives. The style of every law shall be: "Be it enacted by the
48	48	11 General Assembly of the State of Indiana"; and no law shall be enacted,
49	49	12 except by bill.
50	50	13 (b) The people reserve to themselves the power, independent of
51	51	2024 HJ 9201/DI 149 2
52	52	1 the General Assembly, to do the following:
53	53	2 (1) Propose statutes and amendments to this Constitution.
54	54	3 (2) Adopt or reject by ballot their proposed statutes or
55	55	4 amendments to this Constitution.
56	56	5 (3) Approve or reject by ballot any statute, or section or part
57	57	6 of any statute, enacted by the General Assembly.
58	58	7 (c) The style of every statute enacted by the people shall be: "Be
59	59	8 it enacted by the People of the State of Indiana:". The style of
60	60	9 every statute enacted by the General Assembly shall be: "Be it
61	61	10 enacted by the People of the State of Indiana, through the General
62	62	11 Assembly:".
63	63	12 SECTION 3. ARTICLE 4 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
64	64	13 STATE OF INDIANA IS AMENDED BY ADDING A NEW
65	65	14 SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS: Section 31. (a) As used in this
66	66	15 section, "measure" refers to either of the following:
67	67	16 (1) A statute.
68	68	17 (2) An amendment to this Constitution.
69	69	18 (b) The initiative is the power of the voters of Indiana to propose
70	70	19 a measure and to adopt or reject the proposed measure.
71	71	20 (c) A measure shall be submitted to the voters of Indiana if a
72	72	21 petition containing the text of the proposed measure is signed by
73	73	22 the number of Indiana voters equal to two percent (2%) of the total
74	74	23 number of votes cast for Secretary of State at the most recent
75	75	24 election for Secretary of State.
76	76	25 (d) All Indiana law not inconsistent with this section relating to
77	77	26 election petitions and elections for public questions applies to an
78	78	27 initiative.
79	79	28 SECTION 4. ARTICLE 4 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
80	80	29 STATE OF INDIANA IS AMENDED BY ADDING A NEW
81	81	30 SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS: Section 32. (a) A referendum
82	82	31 is the power of the voters of Indiana to approve or reject statutes
83	83	32 or parts of statutes enacted by the General Assembly.
84	84	33 (b) A referendum public question shall be submitted to the
85	85	34 voters of Indiana if a petition identifying the statute or part of the
86	86	35 statute enacted by the General Assembly to be approved or
87	87	36 rejected is signed by the number of Indiana voters equal to two
88	88	37 percent (2%) of the total number of votes cast for Secretary of
89	89	38 State at the most recent election for Secretary of State.
90	90	39 (c) All Indiana law not inconsistent with this section relating to
91	91	40 election petitions and elections for public questions applies to a
92	92	41 referendum.
93	93	42 SECTION 5. ARTICLE 4 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
94	94	2024 HJ 9201/DI 149 3
95	95	1 STATE OF INDIANA IS AMENDED BY ADDING A NEW
96	96	2 SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS: Section 33. (a) If an initiative
97	97	3 or a referendum is approved by a majority of the votes cast on the
98	98	4 initiative or referendum, the initiative or referendum takes effect,
99	99	5 subject to subsection (b), five (5) days after the date the results of
100	100	6 the public question are certified as provided by law, unless the
101	101	7 initiative or referendum provides otherwise.
102	102	8 (b) If an initiative statute requires, either implicitly or explicitly,
103	103	9 that a government entity spend money to carry out the initiative
104	104	10 statute, the statute does not take effect until the initiative statute or
105	105	11 another statute provides a source of funding to the government
106	106	12 entities required to carry out the initiative statute.
107	107	13 (c) If a referendum petition is filed against part of a statute, the
108	108	14 remainder of the statute is not delayed from taking effect.
109	109	15 (d) If provisions of two (2) or more initiatives or referenda
110	110	16 approved at the same election conflict, the provisions of the
111	111	17 initiative or referendum receiving the highest affirmative vote
112	112	18 prevails.
113	113	19 (e) The General Assembly may amend or repeal referendum
114	114	20 statutes.
115	115	21 (f) The General Assembly may amend or repeal an initiative
116	116	22 statute by another statute only when the other statute is approved
117	117	23 by the voters in a referendum, unless the initiative statute permits
118	118	24 amendment or repeal without the approval of the voters.
119	119	25 (g) The veto power of the governor does not extend to an
120	120	26 initiative or a referendum statute approved by the voters.
121	121	2024 HJ 9201/DI 149