Relating to: reserving to the people the power of referendum to reject acts of the legislature and the power of initiative to propose and approve at an election laws and constitutional amendments (first consideration).

This bill proposes constitutional changes to establish direct democracy tools for voters, allowing them to reject laws passed by the legislature and propose new laws or amendments independently. Under the referendum provision, citizens could gather signatures equal to at least 4% of the last gubernatorial vote to place existing legislation on the ballot for public rejection. The initiative provision would let citizens propose new laws or constitutional amendments by collecting signatures ranging from 6% for laws to 8% for amendments, with strict rules requiring single-subject proposals and paper-based signature collection. Once approved, initiative laws would take effect 30 days after certification and could only be repealed by a two-thirds legislative vote or another initiative, while rejected initiatives could not be resubmitted for five years. The bill also prohibits payment based on the number of signatures collected for these petitions, though it allows compensation for signature gathering work itself.