Montana Code 13-27-217. Statutory referendum process and procedure
13-27-217. Statutory referendum process and procedure. (1) (a) A proponent of a statutory referendum shall submit the text of the proposed statutory referendum to the secretary of state together with draft ballot statements and the filing fee required by 13-27-215. The secretary of state shall forward a copy of the text of the proposed statutory referendum and ballot statements to the legislative services division for review in accordance with 13-27-225.
Terms Used In Montana Code 13-27-217
- Adjournment sine die: The end of a legislative session "without day." These adjournments are used to indicate the final adjournment of an annual or the two-year session of legislature.
- Ballot: means a paper ballot counted manually or a paper ballot counted by a machine, such as an optical scan system or other technology that automatically tabulates votes cast by processing the paper ballots. See Montana Code 13-1-101
- Ballot statements: means a statement of purpose and implication and a yes and no statement. See Montana Code 13-27-110
- Election: means a general, special, or primary election held pursuant to the requirements of state law, regardless of the time or purpose. See Montana Code 13-1-101
- legally sufficient: means that a petition complies with statutory and constitutional requirements governing submission of the proposed issue to the qualified electors and the substantive legality of the proposed issue if approved by the voters. See Montana Code 13-27-110
- Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
- Person: means an individual, corporation, association, firm, partnership, cooperative, committee, including a political committee, club, union, or other organization or group of individuals or a candidate as defined in subsection (8). See Montana Code 13-1-101
- Petition: means a petition for a statewide initiative or a statutory referendum prepared pursuant to the requirements of this chapter. See Montana Code 13-27-110
- Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Statutory referendum: means a legislative act to enact statutory law that is referred by petition to the qualified electors for approval or rejection as authorized in Article III, section 5, of the Montana constitution. See Montana Code 13-27-110
- Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203
(b)A proposed statutory referendum may not be accepted by the secretary of state until 10 days after the adjournment sine die of the regular legislative session preceding the general election during which the proposal is intended to be voted on. The prohibitions on acceptance of a proposed statutory referendum provided in this subsection (1)(b) do not apply to a submission received on or after the date that falls 130 days after the date that the legislature convened in regular session pursuant to 5-2-103, even if the legislature has not adjourned sine die. If the secretary of state rejects a proposed statutory referendum pursuant to this subsection (1)(b), the secretary of state shall promptly notify the person who submitted the proposal of the reason for the rejection.
(2)Within 7 days after receiving the proposed statutory referendum from the secretary of state, the legislative services division shall respond in writing to the proponent in accordance with 13-27-225.
(3)After the proponent responds to the legislative services division as provided in 13-27-225, the proponent shall submit the final text of the proposed statutory referendum and ballot statements to the secretary of state. However, if a response to the legislative services division is not required by the proponent pursuant to13-27-225, the proponent shall instead submit the final text of the proposed statutory referendum and ballot statements to the secretary of state after the proponent receives the legislative services division’s response.
(4)On receipt of the final text of the proposed statutory referendum and the ballot statements, the secretary of state shall reject the proposed statutory referendum if the text or a ballot statement contains material not submitted to the legislative services division that is a substantive change not recommended by the legislative services division. Otherwise, the secretary of state shall refer a copy of the proposed statutory referendum and ballot statements concurrently to the budget director and the attorney general.
(5)(a) The budget director shall determine whether a fiscal note is necessary, prepare the fiscal note, notify the attorney general of the necessity of its determination, and provide a copy of the fiscal note, if required, pursuant to 13-27-227 within the timeframe required in subsection (5)(b). Receipt of the notice from the budget director begins the time frame in subsection (6) for the attorney general’s review in accordance with13-27-226.
(b)If the legislative act that is the subject of the proposed statutory referendum had a fiscal note prepared pursuant to 5-4-202 during the legislative session in which the bill was proposed, the budget director shall return the fiscal note to the attorney general within 3 days. If the legislative act that is the subject of the proposed statutory referendum did not have a fiscal note prepared pursuant to 5-4-202 during the legislative session in which the bill was proposed, the budget director shall return the fiscal note to the attorney general within 6 days.
(6)If the budget director is allowed 3 days to return the fiscal note pursuant to subsection (5), the attorney general shall complete the requirements set forth in 13-27-226 within 14 days of the receipt of the proposed statutory referendum from the secretary of state. However, if the budget director is allowed 6 days to return the fiscal note pursuant to subsection (5), the attorney general shall complete the requirements set forth in 13-27-226 within 17 days of the receipt of the proposed statutory referendum from the secretary of state.
(7)The secretary of state shall review the legal sufficiency opinion received pursuant to 13-27-226. If the attorney general:
(a)finds that the proposed statutory referendum is not legally sufficient, the secretary of state shall, without undue delay, send written notice to the person who submitted the proposal that the proposed statutory referendum has been rejected. The notice must include a copy of the attorney general’s legal sufficiency opinion.
(b)finds that the proposed statutory referendum is legally sufficient, the secretary of state shall immediately send a sample petition form as provided in 13-27-233 to the person submitting the proposed statutory referendum.