504,760 valid signatures are needed to get a ballot initiative qualified for the November elections in California.
At first, efforts by Consumer Watchdog to place health insurance rate regulation on the ballot looked like they weren't going to get there -- they have a window of 150 days to gather signatures. The effort started almost four months ago, but by the end of March, three months into the effort
March 30th: We have 200,000 signatures now.
Consumer Watchdog, the sponsors of the initiative, had only accumulated 40% of the required signatures and 25% of their goal. (These quotes are via emails I've received from the campaign).
Then the effort exploded (and you can help)!
April 13th: Here's the scoop: Our paid and volunteer signature gathering efforts have collected 350,000 of the 795,000 signatures we need to turn in by the second week of May.
April 17th: We have 400,000 of the 795,000 signatures we need to reach the ballot. We’re on track to get there...
April 24th: We're up to 450,000 of the 795,000 signatures we need...
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE. 3:45 PM Thursday, April 26th
Just received this in email:
500,000 signatures! Blue Cross CEO Attacks... We already have the support of over 500,000 Californians for our initiative.
So barring the effort grinding to a halt, it sure looks like they are going to get the five-hundred thousand signatures they need very soon. If they keep the pace going through the second week of May, they should have more than 600,000 -- enough to have almost 20% of the signatures be rejected as invalid and still qualify. Getting to 795,000 seems a bit of a stretch unless the effort really snowballs, but that should not be necessary -- 800,000 represents more than a 35% cushion for invalidation.
But every signature helps. Have you signed the initiative yet?
You Don't Have To Wait For a Signature Gatherer to Find You
If you are a registered voter in California you can
download the petition, print it out, sign it and mail it back to Consumer Watchdog. In fact, you can print out multiple copies, have your family, friends,
pets and random people who come soliciting at your door (ding!) sign, and send all the ones you gather back in one envelope, saving what you can to help pay for
the health insurance rate hikes that are coming May 1st.
Health insurance rates are going up for millions of Californians on May 1. For some, it's the third increase in two years and it's forcing some people to make difficult choices.
I've sent in a number; now it's your turn.
Just a couple of clicks and a PRINT command and you can have your very own petition waiting for your signature.
If You've Been Putting It Off Now Is The Time To Do It
This ballot initiative will do what our cowardly, DINO-infested, businesses-who-make-large-donations-friendly Legislature
failed to do last summer: pass a bill that would allow the Insurance Commissioner of California to regulate health insurance rates in much the same way that auto and homeowner's rates are currently regulated in California (and the way health insurance rates are regulated in many other states).
Let's face it. If we cannot get even such a straightforward bill through the Legislature, we don't stand a chance with single-payer legislation (which also failed recently) unless we demonstrate that we simply are not going to take 'no' for an answer. If our Legislature is so worthless that all they can do is contest the will of the people as to whether they should be docked pay for failing to pass a budget on time instead of passing legislation that would actually help the average person, then F*** them.
Let's get this on the ballot, let's pass it in November, and then let's get single-payer on the ballot for 2014.