Much has been said and written about the hundreds of millions of dollars spent for and against the dozen statewide measures on this month’s ballot. Big money? Yes, but it was really just chicken feed, because the stakes in those ballot battles were infinitely greater. Take, for instance, Proposition 15,...
Lawmakers Want to Amend This Prop? It’ll Take a “Super, Super, Super-Duper Majority”
By Ben Christopher, CalMatters A reader has asked us a question about a lesser-known provision buried in one of the year’s most controversial ballot measures: Hey @FromBenC & @CalMatters - was hoping you could answer a #prop22 Q. Is there precedent for rqring 7/8th vote from legis for “consistent” changes...
Walters: Proposition 19’s Tortuous Journey to the Ballot
Proposition 19 shares one characteristic with most of the other 11 measures on California’s ballot this year: It rekindles a political conflict from years past. However, Proposition 19 has meandered a particularly convoluted pathway to the ballot, which explains why it wound up with three distinct sections, to wit: —It would...
Walters: Misusing Taxpayer Dollars for Campaigns
Four of the 12 measures on California’s November ballot were placed there by the Legislature. Let’s assume that legislators had also appropriated $100 million in taxpayers’ money for campaigns to persuade voters to approve the four. It would have been an outrageous and likely illegal misappropriation of public funds under...
Little and No Choice in Many Californian Legislative Races
SACRAMENTO — Millions of Californians have little or no choice when it comes to choosing a state legislator. In 24 of the 100 districts on the ballot, only candidates from one party are running. And in 15 of those districts, the incumbent lawmaker is unopposed and all but assured of...
Walters: Voters Face Hundreds of Local Tax Measures
California voters have seen a deluge of local government tax and bond measures in recent elections and will face even more this year. The California Taxpayers Association has counted 231 local sales and parcel tax increases and bond issues (which automatically increase property taxes if approved) on the March 3 primary ballot...
California Voters May Consider Mandate to End Homelessness
SACRAMENTO — An advisory council appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom called Monday for California voters to consider a legally enforceable mandate to end homelessness, as the state grapples with one of its most pressing and politically fraught problems. Newsom notably did not adopt the council's recommendation when he outlined his...
Walters: One Tax Measure Goes Away
Proposition 13, California’s iconic property tax limit, was overwhelmingly approved by California voters 41 years ago and for at least 40 of those years, efforts have been mounted to repeal or change it. Initially, it was attacked in the courts, but survived. Thereafter, pro-spending interest groups — public employee unions,...
Walters: Another Showdown Over Crime Looms
No California ballot would be complete without at least one measure about crime and punishment and 2020 will be no exception. A referendum seeking to overturn California’s landmark ban on cash bail in criminal cases will once again test voters’ sentiments about the treatment of accused lawbreakers. During previous decades,...
Walters: Court Must Fix Tax Vote Ambiguity
Sooner or later, the state Supreme Court must clear up a legal ambiguity it created over how many votes are needed to enact local tax increases. It should be sooner, because a new election year is nigh, dozens — and perhaps hundreds — of local tax measures are being drafted...