To provide a check on the legislature, the state constitution grants the people the power to veto unwanted legislation through the use of a referendum. According to the Secretary of State, The referendum allows citizens, through the petition process, to refer acts of the legislature to the ballot before they become law. "This power applies to any bill adopted by the legislature except those that include an emergency clause."

An emergency clause states that a bill is exempt from repeal by referendum because the bill is, "necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, support of the state government and its existing public institutions." The use of the emergency clause allows bills to take effect immediately once signed by the governor.

The purpose of the emergency clause is to allow state government to respond quickly to true public emergencies, like a large-scale natural disaster or wide-spread epidemic disease. Yet over the years lawmakers have routinely abused the exemption by attaching emergency clauses to 813 bills since 1997, including 68 bills during the 2009 legislative session.

Key Findings

" The legislature's use of referendum-denying emergency clauses increased from seven percent of all bills passed in 2008 to twelve percent this year  68 bills out of 583.

" The governor vetoed three of the 68 emergency clauses.

" Despite the increase, 2009 saw the fourth lowest percentage use of the emergency clause since 1997.

" The most effective way to end the legislatures abuse of the emergency clause is a constitutional amendment creating a supermajority vote requirement for its use.