I can remember many times through the course of eight years when we debated bills and I stood at my microphone asking the members if we are a state legislature or a school board. It always puzzled me when we would pass laws pertaining to how to run a school district. Perhaps I am sensitized to this from having served nearly nine years in municipal government. I vividly remember how offended we were over the threat of the state or national government putting mandates on our city.

In the case of Amendment 3, which you will see on the ballot in November, this amendment was not put on the ballot by our state legislators. It was put on by a petition initiative.