Constitution; amend to provide that the people have the right to propose new statutes and amend or repeal existing statutes.

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To: Constitution
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Bennett

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 40

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO SECTIONS 33, 1
56, 61 AND 72, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO PROVIDE THAT 2
THE PEOPLE RESERVE TO THEMSELVES THE RIGHT TO EXERCISE THE 3
LEGISLATIVE POWER OF THE STATE TO PROPOSE NEW LAWS AND TO AMEND OR 4
REPEAL EXISTING LAWS BY INITIATIVE, AND TO APPROVE OR REJECT THE 5
SAME IN AN ELECTION INDEPENDENT OF THE LEGISLATURE; AND FOR 6
RELATED PURPOSES. 7
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF 8
MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendments to the Mississippi 9
Constitution of 1890 are proposed to the qualified electors of the 10
state: 11
I. 12
Amend Section 33, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read 13
as follows: 14
Section 33. (1) The legislative power of this state shall 15
be vested in a Legislature which shall consist of a Senate and a 16
House of Representatives, but the people reserve to themselves the 17
right to exercise the legislative power of the state to propose 18
new laws and to amend or repeal existing laws by initiative, and 19
to approve or reject the same in an election independent of the 20
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Legislature, in the manner prescribed in and subject to the 21
provisions of this section. 22
(2) The initiative process shall not be used: 23
(a) To propose any new amendments to or the 24
modification or repeal of any existing provision of this 25
constitution; 26
(b) To propose any new law or amend or repeal any 27
existing law relating to the Mississippi Public Employees' 28
Retirement System; 29
(c) To propose any new local or special law or amend or 30
repeal any existing local or special law; 31
(d) To propose any new law or amend or repeal any 32
existing law on any subject or matter that any section of this 33
constitution prohibits the Legislature from enacting; 34
(e) To propose any new law or amend or repeal any 35
existing law that appropriates funds from the State Treasury; or 36
(f) To propose any new law or amend or repeal any 37
existing law relating to abortion; or 38
(g) To amend or repeal the constitutional guarantee 39
that the right of any person to work shall not be denied or 40
abridged on account of membership or nonmembership in any labor 41
union or organization. 42
(3) An initiative may be proposed by a petition signed over 43
a twelve-month period by qualified electors equal in number to at 44
least eight percent (8%) of the total qualified electors of the 45
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state as of the date of the last gubernatorial election. The 46
signatures of the qualified electors from any congressional 47
district shall not exceed the total number of signatures required 48
to qualify an initiative measure for placement on the ballot 49
divided by the number of congressional districts in existence on 50
the day that the petition is filed. If an initiative petition 51
contains signatures from a single congressional district that 52
exceed the total number of required signatures, the excess 53
signatures from that congressional district shall not be 54
considered by the Secretary of State in determining whether the 55
initiative measure qualifies for placement on the ballot. The 56
sufficiency of petitions shall be decided in the first instance by 57
the Secretary of State, subject to review by the Supreme Court of 58
the state, which shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction 59
over all such cases. 60
(4) The sponsor of an initiative shall identify in the text 61
of the initiative the amount and source of revenue required to 62
implement the initiative. If the provisions of an initiative 63
would cause a substantial cost to the state or require the 64
substantial expenditure of state funds, as determined according to 65
law by the Legislative Budget Office or any successor agency, the 66
sponsor also shall provide in the text of the initiative for the 67
specific funding source or mechanism to pay the cost of the 68
provisions of the initiative so that the initiative will not 69
result in a reduction in state funds available for expenditure by 70
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the Legislature. If an initiative requires (a) a reduction in any 71
source of government revenue that would cause the amount of state 72
funds available for expenditure by the Legislature to be less than 73
the amount of state funds appropriated for the most recent fiscal 74
year, or (b) requires a reallocation of funding from currently 75
funded programs, the sponsor shall identify in the text of the 76
initiative the program or programs whose funding must be reduced 77
or eliminated to implement the initiative. 78
(5) The chief legislative budget officer shall prepare a 79
fiscal analysis of each initiative and each legislative 80
alternative, and a summary of each fiscal analysis shall appear on 81
the ballot. 82
(6) The style of all initiative measures shall be: "Be it 83
enacted by the people of the State of Mississippi." 84
(7) The sufficiency of petitions shall be decided in the 85
first instance by the Secretary of State, subject to review by the 86
Supreme Court of the state, which shall have original and 87
exclusive jurisdiction over all such cases. 88
(8) If an initiative measure is certified by the Secretary 89
of State not less than ninety (90) days before a statewide general 90
election, the Secretary of State shall place the initiative 91
measure on the ballot for that statewide general election. If an 92
initiative measure is certified by the Secretary of State less 93
than ninety (90) days before a statewide general election, the 94
Secretary of State shall place the initiative measure on the 95
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ballot for the next statewide general election occurring after the 96
upcoming statewide general election. 97
(9) No more than three (3) initiative proposals shall be 98
submitted to the votes on a single ballot, and the first three (3) 99
initiative proposals submitted to the Secretary of State with 100
sufficient petitions shall be the proposals which are submitted to 101
the voters. 102
(10) The Secretary of State shall file with the Clerk of the 103
House and the Secretary of the Senate the complete text of the 104
certified initiative on the first day of the regular session. An 105
initiative may be adopted or adopted as amended by a majority vote 106
of each house of the Legislature. If the initiative is adopted or 107
adopted as amended by the Legislature, or if no action is taken 108
within four (4) months of the date that the initiative is filed 109
with the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall place the 110
initiative, as adopted or adopted as amended as the case may be, 111
on the ballot for the next statewide general election. 112
(11) If the Legislature amends an initiative, the amended 113
version and the original initiative shall be submitted to the 114
electors. In order to be approved, an initiative or legislative 115
alternative must receive a majority of the votes cast thereon and 116
not less than forty percent (40%) of the total votes cast at the 117
election at which the initiative was submitted to be approved. If 118
conflicting initiatives or legislative alternatives are approved 119
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at the same election, the initiative or legislative alternative 120
receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall prevail. 121
(12) If an initiative proposed to the Legislature has been 122
rejected by the Legislature and an alternative is passed by the 123
Legislature in lieu thereof, the ballot titles of both such 124
measures shall be so printed on the official ballots that a voter 125
can express separately two (2) preferences: First, by voting for 126
the approval of either measure or against both measures, and 127
secondly, by voting for one (1) measure or the other measure. If 128
the majority of those voting on the first issue is against both 129
measures, then both measures fail, but in that case the votes on 130
the second issue nevertheless shall be carefully counted and made 131
public. If a majority voting on the first issue is for the 132
approval of either measure, then the measure receiving a majority 133
of the votes on the second issue and also receiving not less than 134
forty percent (40%) of the total votes cast at the election at 135
which the initiative was submitted for approval shall be law. Any 136
person who votes for the ratification of either measure on the 137
first issue must vote for one (1) of the measures on the second 138
issue in order for the ballot to be valid. Any person who votes 139
against both measures on the first issue may vote but shall not be 140
required to vote for any of the measures on the second issue in 141
order for the ballot to be valid. Substantially the following 142
form shall be in compliance with this subsection: 143
INITIATED BY PETITION AND ALTERNATIVE BY LEGISLATURE 144
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Initiative Measure No._______, entitled (here insert the ballot 145
title of the initiative measure). 146
Alternative Measure No. ____ A, entitled (here insert the ballot 147
title of the alternative measure). 148
VOTE FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER, OR AGAINST BOTH: 149
FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER Initiative No. ____ 150
OR Alternative No. ____ A .................................. ( ) 151
AGAINST Both Initiative No._______ 152
AND Alternative No. ____ A ................................. ( ) 153
AND VOTE FOR ONE 154
FOR Initiative Measure No. ____ ............................ ( ) 155
FOR Alternative Measure No. ____ A ......................... ( ) 156
(13) Initiative measures approved by the people shall not 157
require the signature of the Governor to become law and shall not 158
be subject to the veto power of the Governor. 159
(14) An initiative measure approved by the people shall not 160
be amended by the Legislature to make a substantive change to the 161
text in the measure, or repealed by the Legislature, for a period 162
of two (2) years after the initiative measure takes effect. 163
However, the Legislature may amend or repeal an initiative measure 164
less than two (2) years after the measure takes effect if the 165
Legislature determines the existence of an emergency affecting the 166
public peace, health, safety or financial solvency of the state 167
that necessitates the amendment or repeal of the initiative 168
measure, which emergency must be stated in the legislation, and 169
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such amendment or repeal shall require a vote of three-fifths 170
(3/5) of each house present and voting. 171
(15) The Legislature shall provide by law the manner in 172
which initiative petitions shall be circulated, presented and 173
certified. To prevent signature fraud and to maintain the 174
integrity of the initiative process the state has a compelling 175
interest in ensuring that no person shall circulate an initiative 176
petition or obtain signatures on an initiative petition unless the 177
person is a resident of this state at the time of circulation. 178
For the purposes of this subsection, the term "resident" means a 179
person who is domiciled in Mississippi as evidenced by an intent 180
to maintain a principal dwelling place in Mississippi indefinitely 181
and to return to Mississippi if temporarily absent, coupled with 182
an act or acts consistent with that intent. Every person who 183
circulates an initiative petition shall print and sign his or her 184
name on each page of an initiative petition, or on a separate page 185
attached to each page, certifying that he or she was a resident of 186
this state at the time of circulating the petition. The Secretary 187
of State shall refuse to accept for filing any page of an 188
initiative petition upon which the signatures appearing thereon 189
were obtained by a person who was not a resident of this state at 190
the time of circulating the petition, and an initiative shall not 191
be placed on the ballot if the Secretary of State determines that 192
without such signatures the petition clearly bears an insufficient 193
number of signatures. The provisions of this subsection (11) 194
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shall be applicable to all initiative measures that have not been 195
placed on the ballot at the time this proposed amendment is 196
ratified by the electorate. 197
(16) An initiative approved by the electors shall take 198
effect thirty (30) days from the official declaration of the vote 199
by the Secretary of State, unless the measure provides otherwise. 200
(17) The Legislature may enact laws to carry out the 201
provisions of this section, but such laws shall in no way restrict 202
or impair the provisions of this section or the exercise of the 203
rights reserved to the people in this section. 204
II. 205
Amend Section 56, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read 206
as follows: 207
Section 56. The style of the laws of the state that are 208
enacted by the Legislature shall be: "Be it enacted by the 209
Legislature of the State of Mississippi." 210
III. 211
Amend Section 61, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read 212
as follows: 213
Section 61. No law enacted by the Legislature or by 214
initiative of the people shall be revived or amended by reference 215
to its title only, but the section or sections, as amended or 216
revived, shall be inserted at length. 217
IV. 218
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Amend Section 72, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read 219
as follows: 220
Section 72. Every Bill which shall pass both Houses shall be 221
presented to the Governor of the state. If he or she approve, he 222
or she shall sign it; but if he or she does not approve, he or she 223
shall return it, with his or her objections, to the House in which 224
it originated, which shall enter the objections at large upon its 225
Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such 226
reconsideration two-thirds (2/3) of that House shall agree to pass 227
the Bill, it shall be sent, with the objections, to the other 228
House, by which, likewise, it shall be reconsidered; and if 229
approved by two-thirds (2/3) of that House, it shall become a law; 230
but in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined 231
by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and 232
against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House 233
respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the Governor 234
within five (5) days (Sundays excepted) after it has been 235
presented to him or her, it shall become a law in like manner as 236
if he or she had signed it, unless the Legislature, by 237
adjournment, prevented its return, in which case such Bill shall 238
be a law unless the Governor shall veto it within fifteen (15) 239
days (Sundays excepted) after it is presented to him or her, and 240
such Bill shall be returned to the Legislature, with his or her 241
objections, within three (3) days after the beginning of the next 242
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ST: Constitution; amend to provide that the
people have the right to propose new statutes
and amend or repeal existing statutes.
session of the Legislature. The provisions of this section are 243
not applicable to initiative measures approved by the people. 244
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That these proposed amendments shall 245
be submitted by the Secretary of State to the qualified electors 246
at an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first 247
Monday of November 2026, as provided by Section 273 of the 248
Constitution and by general law, with the proposed amendments in 249
this resolution being voted on as one (1) amendment. 250
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed 251
amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed 252
constitutional amendment provides that the people reserve to 253
themselves the right to exercise the legislative power of the 254
state to propose new laws and to amend or repeal existing laws by 255
initiative, and to approve or reject the same in an election 256
independent of the Legislature." 257