Proposition 51
School Bonds
Funding for K–12 School and Community College Facilities
Summary — Authorizes $9 billion in general obligation bonds for new construction and modernization of K–12 public school facilities; charter schools; vocational education facilities; and California Community Colleges facilities. Fiscal Impact: State costs of about $17.6 billion to pay off both the principal ($9 billion) and interest ($8.6 billion) on the bonds.
Extract — For buying land and new construction projects, the state and local shares are each 50 percent of project costs. For modernization projects, the state share is 60 percent and the local share is 40 percent of project costs. Schools lacking sufficient local funding may apply for state grant funding, up to 100 percent of the project cost.
Comment – Forces school districts to pass local bond issues for matching funds increasing public debt by another 80 to 90% (~$15 billion) in order to gain access to state money for a total of ~$33 billion increase in local and state taxpayer debt.
Proposition 52
Medi-Cal
Hospital Fee Program Constitutional Amendment
Summary — Extends indefinitely an existing statute that imposes fees on hospitals to fund Medi-Cal health care services, care for uninsured patients, and children’s health coverage. Fiscal Impact: Uncertain fiscal effect.
Comment – Taxes just the sick through pass-through charges from hospitals to pay the Medi–Cal hospital fee.
Proposition 53
Revenue Bonds
Statewide Voter Approval
Constitutional Amendment
Summary — Requires statewide voter approval before any revenue bonds can be issued or sold by the state for certain projects if the bond amount exceeds $2 billion. Fiscal Impact: unknown.
Comment – State revenue bonds totaling more than $2 billion for a project that is funded, owned, or managed by the state would require statewide voter approval.
Proposition 54
Legislature
Legislation And Proceedings
Constitutional Amendment
Summary — Prohibits Legislature from passing any bill unless published on Internet for 72 hours before vote. Requires Legislature to record its proceedings and post on Internet. Authorizes use of recordings. Fiscal Impact: ongoing costs of about $1 million annually to record legislative meetings and videos of those meetings available on the Internet.
Comment – About time!
Proposition 55
Tax Extension
Funds Education and Healthcare
Constitutional Amendment
Summary — Extends by twelve years the temporary personal income tax increases enacted in 2012 on earnings over $250,000. Fiscal Impact: Increased state revenues—$4 billion to $9 billion annually from 2019–2030 depending on economy and stock market. Funding used for schools, community colleges, health care for low–income people, budget reserves, and debt payments.
Comment – Taxing the “Very Wealthy” starts at $250,000 which in this day and age is NOT “Very Wealthy” but helps discourage small business generation, expansion and encourages movement of businesses out of California.
Proposition 56
Cigarette Tax
Funds Healthcare, Tobacco Use Prevention, Research, and Law Enforcement
Constitutional Amendment
Summary — Increases cigarette tax by $2.00 per pack, with equivalent increase on other tobacco products and electronic cigarettes containing nicotine. Fiscal Impact: Additional net state revenue of $1 billion to $1.4 billion in 2017–18, lowers revenues in future years. Revenues used to augment spending on health care for low–income Californians.
Comment — Programs funded by this tax would become another item in the general fund for all taxpayers as revenues decrease.
Proposition 57
Criminal Sentences
Affects Parole. Juvenile Criminal Proceedings and Sentencing.
Constitutional Amendment
Summary — Allows parole consideration for nonviolent felons. Authorizes sentence credits for rehabilitation, good behavior, and education.
Provides juvenile court judge decides whether juvenile will be prosecuted as adult. Fiscal Impact: Net state savings likely in the tens of millions of dollars annually, depending on implementation. Net costs to counties of several millions of dollars annually.
Comment — Allows more criminals on the street further increasing crime rates at a significant cost to local law enforcement and to the community.
Proposition 58
English Proficiency
Multilingual Education
Summary — Authorizes school districts to establish dual–language immersion programs for both native and non–native English speakers.
Comment — Would eliminate the requirement that children be taught in English-only classes and allows more flexibility in developing English learning curricula.
Proposition 59
Corporations
Political Spending. Federal Constitutional Protections Legislative Advisory Question
Summary — Should California’s elected officials propose and ratify an amendment to the federal Constitution overturning the United States Supreme Court decision in Citizens United that ruled placing limits on political spending by corporations and unions are unconstitutional.
Comment — Such actions should be taken in the U.S. Congress not at the state level.
Proposition 60
Adult Films
Condoms. Health Requirements
Comment – Do we really need this subject on our ballots? Government, Deal with it! This is why we pay you the big bucks!
Proposition 61
State Prescription Drug Purchases
Pricing Standards
Summary — Prohibits state from buying any prescription drug over price paid for by United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Exempts managed care programs funded through Medi–Cal. Fiscal Impact: Unknown.
Comment – Current system allows state to negotiate own prices and pay for drugs in a number of ways depending on the program. Affect of Prop 61 on State and VA drug prices is unknown.
Proposition 62
Death Penalty
Repeal
Summary — Repeals death penalty and replaces it with life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Applies retroactively to existing death sentences. Fiscal Impact: Reduction in state and county criminal justice costs of $150 million annually; impact could vary by tens of millions of dollars depending on various factors.
Comment — Prop. 62 means those sentenced to death will live the rest of their lives at taxpayers’ expense with free healthcare.
Proposition 63
Firearms
Ammunition Sales
Summary — Requires background check and Department of Justice authorization to purchase ammunition. Prohibits possession of large–capacity ammunition magazines. Establishes procedures for enforcing laws prohibiting firearm possession by specified persons. Requires Department of Justice’s participation in federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Fiscal Impact: Increased state and local court and law enforcement costs, in the tens of millions of dollars annually.
Comment – Proposition 63 would override legislation already passed that regulates the sale of ammunition. Proposition 63 would also increase the costs to the state of regulating the sale of ammunition with additional bureaucracy.
Proposition 64
Marijuana Legalization
Summary — Legalizes marijuana under state law, for use by adults 21 or older. Imposes state taxes on sales and cultivation. Provides for industry licensing and establishes standards for marijuana products. Allows local regulation and taxation. Fiscal Impact: Additional tax revenues ranging from high hundreds of millions of dollars to over $1 billion annually. Reduced criminal justice costs of tens of millions of dollars annually.
Comment – Proposition 64 omits DUI standard to keep marijuana–impaired drivers off our highways. Revenues from Prop 64 could be used to increase enforcement of drug laws and for drug rehabilitation programs.
Proposition 65
Carryout Bags
Charges
Summary — Redirects money collected by grocery and other retail stores from sale of carryout bags into fund supporting environmental projects. Fiscal Impact: Potential state revenue of several tens of millions of dollars annually.
Extract — Revenues would be deposited in the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Fund to be used as grants for programs and projects related to (1) drought mitigation; (2) recycling; (3) clean drinking water supplies; (4) state, regional, and local parks; (5) beach cleanup; (6) litter removal; and (7) wildlife habitat restoration.
Comments – Money collected is a tax that should be used for the public good and not for retail profit.
Proposition 66
Death Penalty
Procedures
Summary — Changes time-line of challenges to death sentences. Designates superior court for initial petitions and limits successive petitions. Requires appointed attorneys to accept death penalty appeals. Exempts prison officials from developing execution methods. Fiscal Impact: Unknown impact on costs for legal challenges to death sentences. Potential prison savings in the tens of millions of dollars annually.
Comment – Intended to accelerate the implementation of the death penalty by reducing the complexity and processing time of the appeals process.
Proposition 67
Ban On Single–Use Plastic Bags
Summary — Prohibits grocery and other stores from providing customers single–use plastic or paper carryout bags but permits sale of recycled paper bags and reusable bags.
Comments – 150 communities in California already ban single-use plastic bags. Along with Prop 65, Prop 67 provides another funding source for environmental programs and projects.