It was a busy holiday for groups that want voters to approve two new constitutional amendments this fall. Both proposals got thousands of petition signatures, but they also both have their critics.
Backers of the Neighborhood Safety, Drug Treatment, and Rehabilitation Amendment submitted more than twice the 305,000 signatures needed. That amendment would reclassify the lowest-level drug felonies as no worse than misdemeanors and require more state money for addiction treatment. The other, the Kidney Dialysis Patient Protection Amendment, would require annual inspections of clinics, limit how much they can charge and impose penalties for overcharging patients. A group of dialysis clinics and medical groups are opposing that union-backed effort as deceptive and unnecessary. And opponents of the drug crimes amendment say state lawmakers should handle that, because it doesn’t belong in the constitution.
