SJR 101: Axing ballot initiatives, again — 2025

Sen. Doug Okuniewicz (R-Hayden) introduced yet another version of a Constitutional Amendment aimed at restricting Idahoans’ initiative rights, when citizens propose and enact laws at the ballot box, instead of through the Idaho Legislature.

Senate Joint Resolution 101 would require signatures from 6% of eligible voters from all 35 legislative districts, instead of the current requirement for 6% of voter signatures from 18 districts. Under the proposal, if a single district fails to get enough signatures, the initiative would not qualify for the ballot. Idaho already has one of the strictest ballot initiative processes in the country and SJR 101 would further restrict it.

If SJR 101 passes with the required 2/3 support from the Idaho House and Senate, and more than 50% of voters approve it on the November 2026 ballot, then only the most popular, well-funded, and well-organized efforts could realistically qualify for the ballot.

In the past, citizen initiatives led to the establishment of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission in 1938 to try to remove wildlife-related decisions from political interference, and to approve the Dredge and Placer Mining Act in 1954, which regulated commercial dredge mining operations that were wreaking havoc on rivers and streams. The reality is that since 1912, only 15 initiatives have been successful. That’s an average of fewer than one every 7 years. Idahoans have been judicious with initiatives, and it remains an important part of our democratic framework.

This proposed constitutional amendment is a solution in search of a problem. And it’s important to remember, the words right up front in the Idaho Constitution, “All political power is inherent in the people.”