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THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Chabot.

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DELEGATE CHABOT: Mr. Chairman, it is

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apparent that the whole objective of this amendment is

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to say there are times when we are going to have an

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irresponsible legislature, have to find some way of

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short circuiting the legislature in the amendment

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process.

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I suggest that this amendment then will not

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accomplish the purpose at all because it gives to the

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legislature the functions of making the vital definitions

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and the process that would be used under this amendment.

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The legislature apparently will be permitted to determine

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over what period of time the signatures are to be

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gathered. If you have an irresponsible legislature that

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is not going to respond to the will of the people,

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obviously they can make this time so short it cannot

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possibly be used. If, on the other hand, you have a

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legislature that is irresponsible in a way that seeks to ,

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pass the buck to the people and remove its responsibilities ,

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then they can permit a year or any such extended period

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of time for the gathering of signatures.