Farris, Att. Gen. v. Goss

The issue before the court in this case is a narrow one. The requisite number of electors of the state in accordance with the provisions of Article XXXI of the Constitution have taken the necessary steps to initiate a certain measure entitled ""An Act to Protect the Right to Work and to Prohibit Secondary Boycotts, Sympathetic Strikes, and Jurisdictional Strikes."" This proposed law which we shall hereinafter refer to as the ""Barlow Bill,"" or the ""initiated measure,"" was on March 25th and 27th, 1947, in accordance with Article XXXI, supra, proposed for enactment to the Legislature then in session. The Senate referred it to the Committee on Judiciary for the purpose of determining the sufficiency of the initiating petitions. The order of reference was concurred in by the House. The committee reported favorably and recommended that the ""initiated measure"" be submitted to the voters. The Legislature accepted this report and on April 15th at its direction the committee report, the ""initiated measure,"" and the petitions accompanying it were transmitted to the Secretary of State. Article XXXI, Sec. 18, of the Constitution provides in part as follows: ""Any measure thus proposed by not less than twelve thousand electors, unless enacted without change by the Legislature at the session at which it is presented, shall be submitted to the electors together with any amended form, substitute, or recommendation of the Legislature, and in such manner that the people can choose between the competing measures or reject both.""