Half a million Californians have to overcome the feeling that there is no hope left for sanity in their state.

That’s the number of additional verifiable signatures needed to qualify the Save Our State constitutional amendment ballot initiative. Half a million more signatures will get the proposed constitutional amendment, which would deny services to illegal aliens, on the ballot this November. But Californians have only until April 15th, to get those half million signatures collected, returned, and verified. Time to get moving, Californians.

Save Our State is similar to the legally challenged Proposition 187, which 60% of Californians voted for just a few years ago. Illegal immigration costs were stretching taxpayer resources unmercifully in 1994, and have burgeoned since then. The immigration amnesty program being proposed could literally break the backs of the dwindling taxpayers’ resources.

Proposition 187 fell to ACLU legal challenges, because of the denial of school services to the children of illegal aliens. For that reason, denial of school services is NOT included in the Save Our State constitutional amendment. But three important things are.

Save Our State would deny driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. While liberals say granting licenses would make California highways safer (learning driving rules, acquiring insurance) they forget important factors. Illegal aliens have already broken the law by being in the state. Granting them such a major privilege while they are illegal discourages any respect for the law.

Liberals paint a picture of a nice ‘law-abiding’ illegal alien, but neglect to mention that nice, ‘law-abiding’ terrorists could get those driver’s licenses, too. And the driver’s license in our society is the doorway to unlimited access to our freedoms – in financial institutions, in traveling state to state, and in just about any facet of our society.

The second provision would require state agencies to follow federal immigration law. How strange it is to have to write that. States are already supposed to follow federal immigration law, but adhering to the rule of law is becoming a lost art in California. (Consider San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s current antics.) Authorities would have to report individuals who tried to secure state services without proper immigration documentation.

The third, and possibly most significant provision, is that it would allow citizens to sue public agencies that violate the law. Elected officials upholding the law shouldn’t require a citizen suing to enforce. But apparently in California desperate measures are needed.

So far, 155,000 signatures have been collected. Because this is an actual amendment to the California constitution, 598,000 are required. And of course, there are bureaucratic niceties that have to be observed.

Signatures must be as they appear in the voter registration office. Individuals who live in different counties have to sign separate petitions. The petition can be downloaded from www.save187.com, but must be printed front and back. (Neatness counts! Don’t give bureaucrats who oppose the amendment any possible reason to throw out a sheet.) Signers must even make sure they reinsert the front page back into the printer carefully so that both front and back face the same way and have nice margins. (The website has a phone number for desperate questioners.)

Individuals can download the petition, sign it, and return it. They can also have friends who are registered voters sign it. They can even take it round the neighborhood, or other places where allowed. The more signatures collected the better. But check the website thoroughly before downloading. Do the petition before you do your taxes, to make sure you meet the deadline in both cases. Don’t forget to share with citizens not online.

This is California’s second desperate immigration SOS. The old saying is, the third time you drown.

Jan Ireland