HB487 Alabama 2013 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Mike Ball

Republican

Co-Sponsors

Paul BeckmanMike Hill

Session

Regular Session 2013

Title

Initiative, constitutional amendments, proposed by people, authorized, Legislature may offer alternate proposal, const. amend.

Summary

HB487 would let Alabama voters initiate general laws and constitutional amendments by initiative, with the Legislature able to offer an alternate proposal, and it sets a detailed process and thresholds for getting measures on the ballot.

What This Bill Does

It creates a formal initiative process for the people to enact general laws or constitutional amendments, subject to the Legislature's ability to present an alternate proposal. It requires initial and final petition signatures, filing fees, and verification, and it assigns drafting and ballot procedures to state offices (Secretary of State, Alabama Law Institute, Legislative Reference Service). If the Legislature does not adopt the initiative, the measure goes to the ballot; both the initiative and any legislative alternative can appear, and the winner is decided by majority votes. It also limits how many initiative measures may be enacted in a session and prohibits sending initiative measures to the Governor for a signature.

Who It Affects

• Alabama voters: gain the ability to start their own general laws or constitutional amendments through a formal initiative process and to place measures on the statewide ballot if they gather enough signatures and follow the rules.
• State election and legislative administration (Secretary of State, Alabama Law Institute, Legislative Reference Service, and the Legislature): would manage filing, verification, drafting, publication, ballot language, and scheduling of initiative measures and any legislative alternatives.

Key Provisions

• The people may initiate enactment of general laws or constitutional amendments by filing a preliminary petition with at least 1,000 qualified Alabama voters and a $1,000 filing fee (refundable if the initiative is adopted). A registered agent must represent the proposal.
• The Secretary of State verifies petition signatures, then the Alabama Law Institute prepares the full text and official summary within 90 days; the full text and summary are published and remain accessible for a set period.
• Final petition thresholds: for general laws, at least 7% of the governor's votes in the last gubernatorial election, with a per-district minimum of signatures equal to 1% of governor votes in each congressional district; for constitutional amendments, at least 10% of governor votes, with a per-district minimum of 1.3%.
• Final initiative proposals must be filed within two years and may be presented only in a regular legislative session; the Legislature may offer an alternate proposal, and both the initiative and the alternate can go to the ballot if not enacted by the Legislature.
• If the Legislature does not enact the initiative by a certain deadline, the proposal goes to the ballot; the ballot must present Yes/No choices and allow voters to indicate preference between the initiative and any legislative alternative.
• No more than two initiative pieces of legislation may be enacted in a single legislative session; if more than two proposals exist, the two with the most signatures move forward.
• If an initiative fails, the same initiative cannot be resubmitted for at least two years.
• Measures initiated under Part I (general laws) are not sent to the Governor for signature and become law upon delivery to the Secretary of State, subject to the terms of the initiative; constitutional amendments proposed under Part II require approval by a majority of voters.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Constitutional Amendments