In Bismarck, some lawmakers want to make it a lot harder for North Dakotans to put statewide initiatives on the ballot.
But what problem are those lawmakers trying to fix?
After all, the initiative system in North Dakota has worked well. That's especially true in recent years. Three initiated measures come to mind: Measure 2 from 2008, which would have cut North Dakota income taxes by 50 percent; Measure 2 from June 2012, which would have eliminated property taxes; and Measure 4 from June 2012, which gave voters the chance to lock UND's Fighting Sioux nickname into law.
All three measures had obvious populist appeal. All three mapped a route to an immediate benefit -- a tax cut or the satisfaction of defying the NCAA -- but at a severe long-term cost, at least according to critics.
And all three saw the more populist side lose by supermajorities, as North Dakotans weighed the arguments and supported the long-term health of their local governments and UND.
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Arguably, the same thing happened last fall, as North Dakotans considered a slate of five measures and rejected only one: Measure 5, a measure that had been advanced by animal rights groups.
In Measure 5's case, voters trusted the Farm Bureau, the North Dakota Veterinary Medical Association and other organizations, which had called for the measure's rejection. But consider not only that argument but also the election's result. Four measures approved, one rejected: In this vote as in others, North Dakotans thought about each measure, considered the issues and cast each vote with care.
Why is that suddenly a problem after 100 years?
Then there's the fact that the proposal in Bismarck would boost not only the number of signatures required but also the number of counties where 3 percent of the population would need to sign.
That's a high mountain, one that not even supporters of the popular Farming and Ranching Amendment in 2012 would have been able to climb, a Farm Bureau spokesman testified.
Lawmakers have tried before to make it harder to get initiatives on the ballot. They've failed almost every time. Here's hoping they fail again, because North Dakota's initiative system isn't broken and doesn't need a legislative fix.
