House Bill 117 Summary

• Establishes that petition circulators must be at least 18 years old and registered with the Secretary of State before the filing deadline, with registration occurring upon delivery of a signed circulator's affidavit.

• Creates new crime of "petition signature fraud" encompassing signing false names, signing multiple times, forging signatures, submitting sheets with unsigned names, and exchanging money for signatures, all punishable as Class A misdemeanors with up to one year jail time or $10,000 fine.

• Requires circulators to swear under penalty of perjury that they have never been convicted of forgery and disqualifies anyone with forgery convictions from serving as a circulator.

• Mandates the Secretary of State post proposed petition measures on its website within two business days of submission and hold a public hearing within 30 days of certification of sufficient signatures.

• Changes petition approval timeline from 30 days to 15 days for Secretary of State to notify submitters of approval or rejection, and requires statutory initiative signatures be filed no later than six months before the general election, effective November 4, 2014.