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To: Members of the Minnesota House of Representatives From: League of Women Voters of Minnesota Re: HF 643 - ProAosed Initiative and Referendum Constitutional Amendment Date: February 2001 The LeagUe of Women Voters of Minnesota urges you to defeat HF 643. Following a stvdy by our members 15 years ago, the League took a positinn in opposition to iriitiative and referendum. At every biennial state convention since then our membership has reaffirmed our opposition to initiative and referendum. Consideration and enacimen*_ of complex public policy is most appropriately done in the legislative arena. Our elected representatives, reflecting a wide range of political views, can hear argutnents, study implications, make judgements atid vote accordingly. No citizen, regardless of how conscientious and deliberative, has access to as much information and as many viewpoints as the members of our legislature. Initiative and referendum bypass legisIative scrutiny and ask citizens to vote yes or no on comptex issues without amendments, without discussion, without debate. Citizens have ample opportunity to impact the legislative process through writing letters, calling legistators, testifying ak hearings, contacting their legislators in their districts and uitimately at the ballot box. Initiative and referendum: 1} weake� representative government by circumventing the legislative process. In the states that use these processes; ballot issues have become as important, in some cases tnore important, than the electivn of candidates. Diffcult issues can be left to the public to decide, allowiqg Iegislators to avoid making controversial decisions. Special interests, which can spend unlimited dollars promoting one side af an issue, take proposals directly to voters, who do not always have all the information they need to make informed decisions. 2} have the potential to disrupt who�e bodies o� law. Ballot initiatives deai with issues in isolation, often resulting in bad public policy that legislators have to fix later. 3) would allow uniimited spending on ballot issues, spending that would extend to corporations which are excluded from spending money on election cam�paigns rn Minnesota. This would open a huge loophole in our campaign fnanice laws_ 4) have lost their populist roots and become a tool of special interests. Ballot campai�s are now big business. While spending the most money doesn't aIways assure victory, money does make a difference. In his book, Direct Democracy, Thomas Cronzn says that 80% of business-supported ballot campaigns are successful and when big money opposes a measure "the evidence suggests that the wealthier side has about a 75 % or better chance of defeaEing it." 5) do not proteet minority, low-iaeome or other groups that may not have access to the media or funding to promote their viewpoints. Our founders rejected direct democtacy and established a republic with its checks and balances, ifs discussion and debate. The League of Women Voters does not see any reason io change a system that has worked welt for Minnesota. We urge you to defeat this arrtendment.