CITIZENS HARD AT WORK TO GET ENOUGH PETITION SIGNATURES

HELENA - From legalizing medical marijuana to preserving the right to
hunt and fish, the field of proposed constitutional amendments and
citizen-passed laws will give Montanans plenty to chew on before the
November general election.

Although the initiatives and proposed constitutional amendments will
not be appearing on the ballot next week, polling places are a
perennial favorite for signature gathers to find registered Montana
voters. The deadline for signatures to be turned in to local election
officials for review is June 18.

Here's a list and description of some of the ballot initiatives and
proposed constitutional amendments voters may see at Tuesday's polls.

* Initiative 147, bankrolled by a Colorado mining company, would
repeal an earlier citizen initiative from 1998 that banned cyanide
leach mining.

I-147 would require certain, stricter environmental protections that
were available before the 1998 ban, but not required by law.

* I-148, backed by the Medical Marijuana Policy Project of Montana,
would allow chronically ill Montanans to possess, use and grow
marijuana for medical treatment.

* I-150, backed by state Sen. Ken Toole, D-Helena, would create a
public power board which would have the authority to buy privately
owned utilities and the means to generate electricity and natural gas.

* Constitutional Initiative 96, backed by the Montana Family
Foundation, would change the Montana Constitution to ban marriage
between homosexuals and define marriage as existing between only one
man and one woman.

* I-149, backed by the Healthy Kids, Healthy Montana political action
committee, would raise the tax on cigarettes by a $1 a pack to $1.70 a
pack and raise the tax on moist snuff by 50 cents to 85 cents a
package. It would also raise the tax on all other tobacco products,
like loose tobacco, by 25 percent.

The money raised would expand the state's health program for the poor
and expand other state health programs.

* CI-95, backed by Toby McAdam of Livingston, would do away with all
property, income and other taxes and replace them with a flat 5
percent tax on all transactions.

* CI-93, also backed by McAdam, would create a state-run car insurance
program and would establish a flat fee of $250 for the mandatory
motorist liability insurance.

McAdam has several other proposed laws and constitutional amendments
that may qualify for the ballot, like capping gasoline taxes at 18
percent and eliminating taxes on cars and small trucks and replacing
those tax dollars with a single licensing fee.

The Legislature also has the power to send would-be laws and
constitutional amendments to the voters for their approval. Such
changes are automatically qualified for the ballot. Three such
constitutional changes will appear on the November ballot.

They include changing the state's constitution to specifically
preserve the right of Montanans to hunt and fish, extending term
limits for state lawmakers from 8 years to 12 years and creating a $10
million trust fund to battle noxious weeds.