Five Ballot Measures To Address Prescription Drug Costs Among the 79 Proposals Submitted

Seventy-nine proposed ballot initiatives, including five that address prescription drugs, have been submitted to the Office of the Attorney General, the Los Angeles Times reports. Attorney General Bill Lockyer's (D) office has approved eight of the proposals for inclusion on the next state ballot, which could be as early as November if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) calls a special election. The next scheduled state election is June 2006.

According to the Times, a group of 20 deputy attorneys general this month has "set aside its normal workload to concentrate on the flood of paperwork." The attorney general's office must approve the language for ballot petitions and collect the filing fee.

Nathan Barankin, communications director for Lockyer, said, "There is definitely a feeling here that we have been spammed by just about everyone with 200 bucks and an idea."

If Lockyer's office approves the initiatives, supporters for initiatives to modify state statutes must collect 373,816 verified signatures from registered California voters, and supporters of initiatives to amend the state constitution must collect 598,105 signatures.

According to the Times, supporters of initiatives would have until April 19 to collect signatures for a possible November special election (Salladay, Los Angeles Times, 2/11). The full text of proposed ballot measures is available on the Office of the Attorney General Web site.