STATE BALLOT MEASUREEXPLANATIONThis measure covers several aspects of legislative procedure: 1. It prevents our state from mirroring the Texas Legislature as seen here, by requiring one vote per legislator. 2. Once a bill has gone through all of its revisions and comes out of committee, it provides legislators fourteen business days to review the final version of the bill before it can be voted on by the house. 3. Once either house passes a bill, it requires the entire contents of the bill to be publicly posted on the Internet for fourteen business days before the other house can vote on it. Thus, before the final vote, citizens can review it and provide input based upon their real life experiences. 4. It requires a legislator to sign a document, under penalty of perjury, every time he or she votes in favor of a bill, that he or she has read the bill in its entirety and has taken steps to understand the real life ramifications of the bill. 5. Trading votes is an arrangement made between lawmaking individuals where one agrees to vote for or against or not all on a particular bill in exchange for another legislator's vote on some other matter. Trading votes generally occurs when there are fundamental problems with a bill. The bill isn't good enough to be passed on its merits alone. It is illegal for anyone to trade votes in their legislative capacity. It is also illegal to bribe, initimidate and in other ways influence a vote. In our current political climate, these laws are not always heeded, thus necessitating a reminder. 6. The final aspect is a gentle reminder to our legislator that first and foremost they work for us, not others, and that we want them to use common sense when they pass laws that we have to follow. These stipulations create an environment conducive to getting decent laws passed and give our lawmakers, despite political pressures, the opportunity to do the right thing, which is what most of them wanted to do when first coming into office.
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