HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5000        FILED ON: 8/22/2016

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4699

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Paul W. Mark

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to initiative petitions in the city known as the town of Greenfield.

_______________

PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5000        FILED ON: 8/22/2016

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4699

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

_______________

An Act relative to initiative petitions in the city known as the town of Greenfield.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Order that the Greenfield town charter Article 7, Section 7-7 Citizen Initiative Measures, Subsection (c) and (e) be further amended by recommendation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Senate House Council as indicated in the attached strike draft:

SECTION 7-7 of the charter of the city known as the town of Greenfield which is on file in the office of the archivist of the commonwealth as provided in section 12 of chapter 43B of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out subsections (a) to (e), inclusive, and inserting in place thereof the following 5 subsections:

(c) Submission to Town Clerk - If the opinion of the Town Attorney is that the petition is eligible under Section 7-7 (b), the Town Clerk shall provide blank forms for the use of subsequent signers, and shall print at the top of each blank a fair, concise summary of the proposed measure, as determined by the Town Attorney, together with the names and addresses of the first ten (10) voters who signed the originating petition. Within ninety (90) days following the date the blank forms are issued by the Town Clerk, the petitions shall be returned and filed with the Town Clerk signed by at least ten percent (10%) of the total number of voters voting in the most recent regular biennial Town election, but no less than five percent (5%) of all registered voters on the same date. Signatures to an initiative petition need not all be on one (1) paper, but all such papers pertaining to any one measure shall be fastened together and shall be filed as a single instrument, with the endorsement thereon of the name and residence address of the person designated as filing the same. With each signature on the petition there shall also appear the street and number of the residence of each signer.

(e) Supplementary Petitions - Within sixty (60) days following the date an initiative petition has been rejected a supplemental initiative petition may be filed with the Town Clerk by the petitioner's committee as determined in section 7-7(a). The supplemental initiative petition shall be in the same form as the initial petition and signed by a number of additional voters, which is equal or greater than five percent (5%) of the total number of voters voting in the most recent biennial Town election, but no less than two and one half percent (2 1/2%) of all registered voters as of the same date. If the number if signatures to such supplemental petition is found to be sufficient by the Town Clerk, the Town Council shall call a special election to be held on a date fixed by it not less than one hundred and twenty (120) nor more than one hundred eighty (180) days following the date of the certificate of the Town Clerk that a sufficient number of voters have signed the supplemental initiative petition and shall submit the proposed measure, without alteration, to the voters for determination; provided, however, if any other Town election is to be held within one year following the date of the said certificate, the Town Council may omit the calling of such special election and cause said question to appear on the election ballot at such approaching election for determination by the voters at the next regular biennial election.

AND THAT THE TOWN COUNCIL FURTHER INSTRUCTS THE TOWN CLERK TO RESUBMIT THE APPROVED VOTE TO THE LEGISLATURE OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS AND REQUEST SAID LEGISLATURE TO AMEND THE TOWN CHARTER.