A person shall not qualify as a petition circulator if he or she has been found guilty of forgery.

Circulators are required to wear buttons signifying whether they are compensated or not.

Currently, those who sign a false name on a petition are guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. Under the act, those who knowingly do so with the intent to alter the outcome, are guilty of a class one election offense.

Petitions may be withdrawn upon written notice to the Secretary of State.

Petitioners shall submit a copy of the filed statement of committee organization to the Secretary of State, with the sample petition.

The act requires the Secretary of State to post the full text of initiative and referendum petitions within two days of receiving such petition and a disclaimer stating that the text of the proposed measure may not constitute the full and correct text as required by law to qualify for circulation. The name of the individual or organization submitting the petition shall also be included. Failure to do so shall be considered an open records violation. The petition shall be removed upon rejection.

Currently, the Secretary of State has 30 days to approve or reject the form of a petition. This act decreases that time period to 15 days.

Currently, proponents and opponents of measures may submit proposed statements of fiscal impact to the Auditor. This act allows such individuals to submit such statements to the Secretary of State. The act defines proponents as those submitting the sample petition or those filing with the Ethics Commission in support of the measure. Similarly, the act defines proponents as those filing with the Ethics Commission in opposition to the measure. Statements of fiscal impact shall include costs or savings to Missouri business.

Under current law, the official ballot title for all ballot measures includes the summary statement and fiscal note summary. Under this act, fiscal note summaries are only part of the official ballot title for measures proposed by the General Assembly. Fiscal note summaries shall no longer be supplied by the State Auditor.

Currently, fiscal note summaries are required to contain no more than fifty words and summarize the fiscal note in language neither argumentative nor likely to create prejudice. This act removes that requirement

Ballot titles for statutory measures submitted by referendum petitions can no longer be challenged.

The petition sponsor shall submit, at the same time and with the sample petition, at least 1,000, but not more than 2,000 sponsoring signatures to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall send the signatures to the election authorities for verification within 5 days to be verified by the election authorities within 15 days. If the sponsoring signatures are verified, the Secretary of State shall notify the petition sponsor and accept public comment regarding the proposed measure. The Secretary has 23 days from certification of the sponsoring signatures to prepare the summary statement. Sponsoring signatures and signatures collected prior to the date the official ballot title is certified shall not be counted for the purposes of determining the number of signatures constitutionally required to have the measure placed on the ballot.

Within 30 days of certification that the petition sponsor has the required signatures to have the provision placed on the ballot, the Joint Committee on Legislative Research shall hold a public hearing to take public comment on the measure.

Persons challenging the ballot title are barred from delaying the disposition of the case for more than 120 days. At the end of that period, the action shall be dismissed with prejudice for failure to prosecute unless the court enters an order expressly stating that the sole cause for delay was the court's unavailability.

The provision requiring the Joint Committee on Legislative Research to conduct a public hearing carries an emergency clause.

This act is similar to SB 774 (2011) and SCS/SBs 817 & 774 (2012).

CHRIS HOGERTY

SCA 1 - THE AMENDMENT REMOVES ALL PROVISIONS AND REFERENCES THAT CHANGES THE PRACTICE OF HAVING THE AUDITOR WRITE FISCAL NOTES AND FISCAL NOTE SUMMARIES FOR BALLOT MEASURES AND REQUIRES THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO POST STATEMENTS OF FISCAL IMPACT RECEIVED FROM PROPONENTS AND OPPONENTS ON THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S WEBSITE.

THE AMENDMENT ALSO REMOVES A PROVISION THAT BARS PERSONS CHALLENGING THE BALLOT TITLE FROM DELAYING THE DISPOSITION OF THE CASE FOR MORE THAN 120 DAYS.