Gay Hoezee signs in to vote at Sibley School in Grand Rapids on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017. (Neil Blake | MLive.com)

Ballot petition season is well underway

By Lauren Gibbons

It's a little over a year until the 2018 election, but the push to get citizen-led initiatives before Michigan voters is already in full swing.

Several petitions of varying topics, including legalizing recreational marijuana, creating an independent redistricting commission or making Michigan's state government a part-time legislature, have been submitted to the Secretary of State and are currently in the signature gathering process.

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What it takes to get on the ballot

Groups pushing ballot petitions have the option to either create or amend legislation, or amend the state Constitution.

Proposed constitutional amendments require 315,654 valid signatures collected within 180 days to advance to the ballot.

Legislative initiatives have a lower bar to clear where signatures are concerned, requiring 252,523 valid signatures collected in a 180-day window. But the petition language then goes to the state Legislature, where lawmakers are given 40 session days to consider the proposal. If it's not adopted within that time frame, the language would head to the statewide ballot for voter consideration.

The final filing deadline for constitutional initiatives is May 30, 2018, and the final deadline for legislative initiatives is July 9, 2018.

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Several groups in signature-gathering phase

Several groups pushing for statewide ballot petitions have begun signature gathering efforts, and some report they're at least halfway to hitting their goal.

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Mark Bugnaski | MLive.com

Marijuana legalization effort underway

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is a legislative initiative that was approved to form by the Board of State Canvassers on May 18. They were given 180 days from May 26 to get enough signatures to proceed to the next step of the process.

If approved, the petition would legalize personal possession, cultivation, and use of limited amounts of cannabis for adults 21 and older and license marijuana-related businesses. The petition also calls for testing and safety regulations for retail marijuana, legalizing cultivation of industrial hemp and taxing marijuana with a 10 percent excise tax and 6 percent sales tax.

In August, the group announced they were passing the 200,000-signature mark. Their goal is to collect 366,000 signatures to provide a buffer for the 252,523 signatures the petition needs to be validated by state elections officials.

Should the effort pass in 2018, it would allow Michigan residents the highest possession limits in the nation.

At least one group, the Committee to Keep Pot Out of Neighborhoods and Schools, has formed to oppose the initiative.

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Some Michigan lawmakers mull legalizing recreational pot before voters can

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MLive file photo

More than one marijuana proposal

Another marijuana legalization effort, Abrogate Prohibition Michigan, is also in the signature-gathering stage.

That petition proposes a constitutional amendment, which requires 315,654 valid signatures to move past the signature-gathering phase.

If approved by voters, the proposal would nullify all current state laws prohibiting or regulating the use of marijuana. The petition would also prohibit fines, taxes and penalties for marijuana use.

Second marijuana legalization petition given OK to collect signatures

What a change in direction on federal marijuana policy could mean for Michigan

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U.S. and Michigan flags are to be lowered to half-staff through Friday, Oct. 6. Emily Lawler | MLive.com

Independent redistricting commission

The group Voters Not Politicians is looking to prevent gerrymandering in Michigan by installing an independent redistricting commission to draw Congressional and state legislative district lines.

The petition would put in place an 13-member commission consisting of five independent members, four self-declared Democrats and four self-declared Republicans. Elected officials, candidates, lobbyists and political consultants or staffers -- as well as family members of politicians or other insiders -- would be barred from participating within six years of their politically-affiliated position.

The commissioners would be selected randomly from a pool of registered voters who submitted applications to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State would be required to circulate commissioner applications to 10,000 registered Michigan voters at random from various regions of the state.

Final maps for congressional and state House and Senate lines would require majority approval and support from at least two Republicans, two Democrats and two independents on the commission.

The petition was approved to form by the Board of State Canvassers in August after a lengthy back-and-forth between state elections officials and Voters Not Politicians. Since then, the group reports it's collected more than 200,000 signatures.

Group pushing redistricting petition reports they've collected more than 200K signatures

Group aims to take politics out of redistricting in Michigan with independent commission

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Redistricting proposal cleared by Board of Canvassers. Lots of cheering pic.twitter.com/gZkWGjdkVP — Lauren Gibbons (@LaurenMGibbons) August 17, 2017

The Voters Not Politicians proposal has many critics, including the Michigan Republican Party. In a recent email to party supporters, Michigan Republican Party chair Ron Weiser warned people not to sign the petition, claiming Voters Not Politicians is "attempting to stack the deck in favor of Democrats."

One Republican strategist, Robert LaBrant, filed a complaint against Michigan's Bureau of Elections alleging state officials acted improperly when advising Voters Not Politicians, calling the bureau's review of the petition language submitted a "misplaced, over-zealous attempt at being customer friendly even though the service the bureau provided VNP is illegal."

The complaint was forwarded to the Attorney General's office.

Redistricting petition cleared for signature gathering

Complaint claims state elections bureau illegally assisted redistricting group

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Tanya Moutzalias | MLive Detroit

Prevailing wage repeal renews effort

Protecting Michigan Taxpayers is a group pushing initiated legislation to repeal the prevailing wage law, which applies union-level wages to public projects like schools and government buildings.

The petition language was approved to form by the Board of State Canvassers in May.

It's not the first time proponents of repealing the prevailing wage have attempted a legislative initiative. A previous effort to collect signatures for prevailing wage repeal ground to a halt in 2015 after the group turned in an unusually high number of invalid signatures.

The proposal has faced backlash from union groups, and the group Protect Michigan Jobs is fighting against the effort.

Prevailing wage repeal petitioners given go-ahead to collect signatures

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David Eggert | AP

Support in the Legislature for prevailing wage repeal efforts

Gov. Rick Snyder has opposed previous attempts at repealing the prevailing wage, expressing worry that it could hurt the skilled trades he's been promoting.

But if petitioners gather at least 252,523 valid signatures within a 180-day time window before May 30, 2018, the proposal would land in the lap of the Legislature, which would have 40 days to take up the legislation and bypass the governor's desk.

Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, recently told reporters he would bring up the measure for a vote if enough valid signatures are gathered and said he believes it would pass. He said repealing prevailing wage would save taxpayer dollars in the long run, and in the past has suggested it could save state and local governments more than $200 million a year.

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Emily Lawler | MLive.com

Some want to make the Legislature part-time

The group Clean MI Committee is collecting signatures on a petition to restrict the legislature to 90 session days and slash the pay of lawmakers.

The proposal has a high-profile supporter in Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, but got off to a rocky start when signatures that were collected after the proposal was initially announced in May were thrown out due to changes in the proposal's language.

Calley asked the Board of State Canvassers not to approve the form of the petition - a voluntary procedure for petition groups that includes a board review of the form and structure of the petition language - because he believed Canvasser Norm Shinkle's work with the Michigan Freedom Fund was a conflict of interest. Shinkle disagreed, saying he supported a part-time legislature during his time as a state lawmaker.

At least two groups have formed in opposition to the petition — MYPACK and the Coalition Against Higher Taxes and Special Interest Deals.

Lt. Gov. Brian Calley jumps on part-time Legislature bandwagon

'MYPACK' takes aim at Calley's part-time legislature proposal

Calley asks state board not to weigh in on part time legislature petition

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In September, the Board of State Canvassers approved the form of a ballot initiative that would raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2022.

The petition would also raise the minimum wage for tipped workers like waiters until it was also $12 per hour by 2024. The group behind the initiative is One Fair Wage.

Michigan crafted a plan to raise its minimum wage in 2014. A series of gradual increases ends in 2018, when Michigan's minimum wage will go to $9.25 for hourly workers and $3.52 for tipped workers.

That increase was in part prompted by the group Raise Michigan, who had started a ballot drive to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 by 2017 and failed to get enough signatures. The legislature in passing SB 0934 avoided the potential $10.10 hike by repealing the state's original minimum wage law and replacing it with a new one.

$12 minimum wage petition gets preliminary approval from state board

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Raising the minimum wage

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Actresses Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda visit the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College, Tuesday, as they tour Michigan to advocate for a 2018 ballot initiative to increase the state's minimum wage. Joining the actresses was Saru Jayaraman, right, co-director and co-founded of ROC. Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United has joined a coalition of restaurant workers and workers' rights groups to file the One Fair Wage ballot drive which seeks to eliminate the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers and raise the minimum wage to $12/hr in Michigan. (Mark Bugnaski | MLive.com)

As part of One Fair Wage's efforts to boost publicity and raise awareness for the ballot petition, actresses Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda visited several Michigan cities to support the proposed change.

Both actresses have personal ties to Michigan and said they see Michigan as a key state in the fight to increase wages, based on Michigan's longtime ties to the labor movement and as a Democratic state that went for Donald Trump in the 2016 election.

So why are Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda in Michigan to push for higher minimum wage?

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Emily Lawler | MLive.com

Paid sick leave effort back for round 2

The group MI Time to Care is renewing its efforts to create the Earned Sick Time Act, which would require Michigan businesses to provide employees with a minimum of one hour of earned sick time for every 30 hours worked. Under the proposal, the employee would not be entitled to use more than 40 hours of paid earned sick time a year unless the employer allowed a higher limit.

The leave could be used for physical or mental illness, injuries, health conditions, caring for a sick or injured family member or for other circumstances.

The group that tried and failed to gather enough signatures to put the issue on the November 2016 ballot. The ballot language is the same as the proposal to get on the 2016 ballot was, and the form was approved again by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers in August.

Petition for mandatory sick days is back, aiming for 2018 ballot

Paid sick days would be mandatory under ballot initiative

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Rev. Deb Hansen takes part in a protest before the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline public information session at Holt High School on Thursday, July 6, 2017. The report, by Dynamic Risk Assessment Systems, Inc., was prepared independently for the state of Michigan. Hansen is with Concerned Citizens of Cheboygan and Emmet County. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)

Banning crude oil in Line 5

The group Keep Our Lakes Great is petitioning for the creation of the Great Lakes Pipeline Safety Regulation Act, which would terminate the Enbridge easement and ban crude oil from any pipeline crossing under Michigan's Great Lakes bottomlands.

The petition calls for prohibiting the state from granting any future "crude oil or liquid petroleum products" pipeline easements. It also wants any such pipelines to carry a $4 billion insurance policy with at least a $400 million surety bond.

Keep Our Lakes Great began the process of collecting signatures in May.

14 dueling opinions on Enbridge Line 5

Petition seeks ban on crude oil in Line 5

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What ballot petition groups have raised

An important factor behind the success ballot petition efforts is funding - collecting enough signatures in 180 days is a big effort and often requires substantial fundraising. For more information, see a full roundup of campaign finance information submitted by individual ballot groups here:

Here's how much money is behind Michigan's potential ballot proposals

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What happens next

If groups pushing for ballot petitions clear the hurdle of gathering enough signatures in the 180-day window, that's not the end of the process. Signatures have to be validated and approved by the Board of State Canvassers, and legislative initiatives are shipped off to the Michigan Legislature for 40 days before further action. The possibility of legal challenges from opponents also looms.

So far, all proposals submitted so far are still in the process of gathering signatures.