I take strong exception to the BDN editorial position on the referendum system. In particular, the editorial board quotes Gov. Paul LePage on the need to make it harder for people to get referendums on the ballot, and they argue he is right about the system needing reform.
It is difficult to accept his and the BDN’s argument that it is too easy for referendum questions to get on the ballot and that the process should be made more difficult when the governor and the Republican Party failed in their effort to get a referendum on the ballot to abolish the state income tax.
To make it more difficult, the BDN and the governor suggest that petition gathers should collect signatures from 15 percent to 20 percent of voters in the last gubernatorial election instead of the current 10 percent. But what are the valid reasons for raising the threshold? The BDN argued that in the last 23 years — 1992 to 2015 — there have been 37 referendums on the ballot. What is so excessive about that? That averages out at 1.6 per year for Maine voters to consider. I think that is a reasonable exercise in democracy for Maine voters rather than a sign that a system is in need of reform. If, on the other hand, Maine voters had to understand and consider 17 referendums on the ballot as did voters of California, there might be the need to reform the system, but Maine voters were confronted with only five referendums and could evaluate them intelligently and decide whether they should become law.
The BDN is wrong to argue that the referendum process should be used only for critical issues or to confront government malfeasance — though now could be considered a period marked by government malfeasance, considering the conduct of the current occupant of the Blaine House. LePage has made the use of the referendum process more necessary by making the Legislature unable to operate in a normal legislative manner.
The BDN and LePage fail to understand the unique nature of democracy in Maine. Unlike most other states, we do not have a Legislature composed of professional politicians who can devote their full time and attention to making laws and who are adequately compensated for their time and efforts. Instead, Maine has a citizen legislature, and its members are among the most poorly compensated state legislators in the country. Maine legislators are expected to work part time and have separate careers and income to support themselves and their families. Passing laws through the regular legislative process is one means of passing bills, but the referendum process is another. The referendum process, however, has the considerable advantage of not being subject to the governor’s veto.
Another reform the BDN recommends is a signature apportionment based on the 35 state senate districts to assure that only referendums that demonstrate true statewide support can be considered. But there is no constitutional basis to elevate the value of one Maine resident’s signature over another anymore than the value of any one vote anywhere in Maine should be given more weight than any other vote. I believe that “one person, one signature” for petitions holds the same as “one person, one vote” in elections.
One reform the BDN fails to recommend is the need for a fiscal review of initiative questions. The BDN notes that the Office of Fiscal and Program Review must analyze legislation so lawmakers know how much the legislation will cost. It seems reasonable to require referendums to be analyzed in the same way so that voters are aware of the financial implications to be considered.
The problem in Maine is that we have a governor who does not recognize the validity of the voice of the people as expressed at the ballot box. Despite his inability to veto a senior housing bond passed at the ballot box, he has simply refused to allow the bond to be issued. His real objection appears to be not that the referendum process is too easy but that it removes the power of his veto.
Louis Sigel of Gardiner helped gather signatures for citizen initiatives to put Maine Clean Elections on the ballot in 1995, marijuana legalization in 2015 and Medicaid expansion this year for the 2018 ballot.