Proposalto limit legislatures ablity to change or cancel referenda

Maine Beacon - Most who supported the 2016 ballot measures to raise the minimum wage, create sustainable funding for our public schools, legalize recreational marijuana, or to implement ranked-choice voting will likely recall their elation when these measures all passed in a state election that saw near-record turnout, only to feel that elation turn to frustration when each of these measures saw substantial revision, delay, or destruction at the hands of the Governor’s office and factions within the Legislature.

Despite the 2016 ballot measures shaping the political discourse and the goalposts of the recent state budget fight to the benefit of progressive values, many engaged citizens felt a tangible sense of betrayal when our elected representatives put their thumbs on the scale on our process of direct democracy. Up to this point, most had assumed that the norms restraining legislators from so obviously betraying the expressed will of the voters would be too immense, and for many, the realization that this norm has eroded was truly deflating.  With more citizen referendums on the ballot this year, including measures to expand Medicaid to uninsured Mainers on the edges of poverty, many supporters are approaching the referendum process more skeptically.

Perhaps recognizing that this skepticism breeds the kind of mistrust of government and politics that turns people away from the political process entirely, Saco state senator and fellow Young Democrat Justin Chenette has introduced an amendment to the state constitution that would protect citizen referendums passed by voters from repeal or alteration at the hands of the Legislature for a year, creating constitutional protection for citizen democracy where norms have failed.