S.J.R. 2005 Section 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of 1 the State of Iowa is proposed: 2 Article III, Legislative Department, Section 1, Constitution 3 of the State of Iowa, is repealed and the following adopted in 4 lieu thereof: 5 Legislative authority —— initiative of the people and the 6 General Assembly. SECTION 1. 7 1. The people reserve to themselves the power to initiate 8 laws and amendments to the Constitution and to adopt such laws 9 and amendments independently of the Legislative authority. 10 With the exception of laws and amendments to the Constitution 11 by initiative petition, the Legislative authority of this State 12 is vested in a General Assembly which shall consist of a Senate 13 and a House of Representatives. 14 2. a. An initiative petition proposing a law or an 15 amendment to the Constitution shall be filed with the Secretary 16 of State not less than twelve months preceding the date of the 17 general election at which the proposed law or amendment is to 18 be voted upon. Each initiative petition proposing a law shall 19 be signed by eligible electors equal in number to five percent 20 of the votes cast for the office of Governor at the last 21 general election in which that office was on the ballot. Each 22 initiative petition proposing an amendment to the Constitution 23 shall be signed by eligible electors equal in number to ten 24 percent of the votes cast for the office of Governor at the 25 last general election in which that office was on the ballot. 26 b. Each initiative petition shall contain the declaration 27 of each petitioner that the petitioner is an eligible elector 28 of the State, the petitioner’s address, and the date on which 29 the petitioner signed the petition. Each sheet containing 30 petitioners’ signatures shall be attached to a full and correct 31 copy of the title and text of the proposed law or amendment 32 to be initiated, and every sheet of the petition containing 33 signatures shall be verified by the affidavit of the person who 34 circulated the sheet, setting forth that each of the names on 35 -1- LSB 6169XS (5) 83 sc/rj 1/ 5

S.J.R. 2005 the sheet was signed in the presence of the affiant and that in 1 the belief of the affiant each signer was an eligible elector 2 of the State. 3 c. Each law or amendment initiated by initiative petition 4 shall comply with the requirements of article III, section 29, 5 or article X, section 2, respectively, and shall not exceed 6 five thousand words in length. An analysis of the legal and 7 fiscal impact of the law or amendment shall be prepared and 8 made available to members of each house of the General Assembly 9 and to the public prior to the day of the general election, as 10 provided by law. 11 d. A law or amendment initiated by petition may be withdrawn 12 if a petition requesting withdrawal is filed with the Secretary 13 of State not later than one hundred twenty days before the 14 next general election. The petition requesting withdrawal 15 must contain the signatures of no less than two-thirds of the 16 signers of the initiative petition filed with the Secretary 17 of State. Upon the filing of a valid withdrawal petition, 18 the Secretary of State shall take no further action on the 19 initiative petition. 20 3. a. All elections on laws or amendments to the 21 Constitution initiated by the people shall be held at the 22 general election. When an initiative petition is filed, the 23 Secretary of State shall cause to be printed on the official 24 ballot at the next general election the title of the law or 25 amendment, together with the words “Yes” and “No” in such 26 manner that the voters may express at the polls their approval 27 or rejection of the law or amendment. The text of all laws or 28 amendments to be submitted shall be published by the Secretary 29 of State as required by law. 30 b. No more than five laws or amendments to the Constitution 31 initiated by petition may be placed on the ballot at any 32 general election. The first five petitions to be filed with 33 the Secretary of State and to meet the qualifications of this 34 section shall be placed on the ballot at the general election. 35 -2- LSB 6169XS (5) 83 sc/rj 2/ 5

S.J.R. 2005 4. a. A simple majority of the votes cast for an initiated 1 law or amendment is necessary to approve the law or amendment. 2 An initiated law or amendment approved by the people is 3 effective July 1 following its approval. 4 b. The veto power of the Governor in article III shall not 5 extend to laws proposed by initiative petition and approved by 6 the electorate. 7 c. If two or more conflicting laws or amendments to the 8 Constitution are placed on the same ballot, the Secretary of 9 State shall include on the ballot a statement notifying the 10 voters of the conflicting laws or amendments. 11 d. If two or more conflicting laws or amendments to 12 the Constitution are approved by the people at the same 13 election, the law or amendment receiving the greatest number of 14 affirmative votes shall prevail. 15 5. The Secretary of State, in the presence of the Governor 16 and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, shall canvass the 17 votes within thirty days after the general election, and upon 18 completion of the canvass shall issue a proclamation, giving 19 the entire number of votes cast for and against each initiated 20 law or amendment to the Constitution and declaring those laws 21 or amendments which were approved. 22 6. A law or amendment to the Constitution proposed by 23 initiative petition and rejected at a general election shall 24 not be placed on the ballot more than once in a three-year 25 period. 26 7. The General Assembly may provide by law for procedures 27 to implement this section. Such procedures shall in no way 28 restrict or impair the powers reserved to the people by this 29 section. The General Assembly shall provide a penalty for any 30 willful violation of any of the provisions of this section. 31 8. This section shall not be construed to deprive the 32 General Assembly of the right to enact any law. This section 33 shall not be construed to deprive the General Assembly or 34 a constitutional convention of the right to propose any 35 -3- LSB 6169XS (5) 83 sc/rj 3/ 5

S.J.R. 2005 constitutional amendment as provided in article X, or to 1 deprive the people of the right to approve and ratify such a 2 proposed amendment as provided in article X. 3 9. The style of an act enacted by the General Assembly shall 4 be: Be It Enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Iowa. 5 The style of an act submitted to the voters by an initiative 6 petition shall be: Be It Enacted by the People of the State of 7 Iowa. 8 Sec. 2. REFERRAL AND PUBLICATION. The foregoing proposed 9 amendment to be Constitution of the State of Iowa is referred 10 to the General Assembly to be chosen at the next general 11 election for members of the General Assembly and the Secretary 12 of State is directed to cause the proposed amendment to be 13 published for three consecutive months before the date of that 14 election as provided by law. 15 EXPLANATION 16 This Joint Resolution proposes an amendment to the 17 Constitution of the State of Iowa granting the people the power 18 to initiate laws or amendments to the Constitution of the State 19 of Iowa by petition and approve the laws or amendments at the 20 polls. Initiative petitions must contain a specified number of 21 signature of eligible electors. A procedure for withdrawal of 22 a petition is included. 23 Initiative petitions must be filed with the secretary of 24 state not less than 12 months before the general election at 25 which it will be voted on. 26 The resolution also provides that any law or amendment to the 27 Constitution proposed by initiative petition shall not exceed 28 5,000 words in length and that a legal and fiscal analysis 29 shall be prepared for members of the general assembly. No more 30 than five initiated laws or amendments may be placed on the 31 ballot at one time. 32 The resolution provides that the general assembly may enact 33 laws to implement this amendment to the Constitution. 34 An initiated law or amendment approved by the people is 35 -4- LSB 6169XS (5) 83 sc/rj 4/ 5

S.J.R. 2005 effective July 1 following its approval. A law or amendment 1 proposed by initiative petition and rejected at election shall 2 not be placed on the ballot more than once in a three-year 3 period. 4 The resolution, if adopted, would be referred to the next 5 general assembly for consideration a second time, before 6 the amendment would be submitted to the electorate for 7 ratification. 8 -5- LSB 6169XS (5) 83 sc/rj 5/ 5